Canto
by lilykane
Summary: They had always been close, two brothers isolated because of prejudice and jealousy. However, Chaolan and Kazuya discover how little they truely know each other and how painfully different they are one summer. Prequel to The Stone Lotus.
1. Chapter One

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~Disclaimer: Tekken and its characters are owned by Namco. This story is for entertainment purposes only. Anyone that's offended by this story, go read BryanxJin yaoi. Anyone that's not, thank you. I mean it. Enjoy.~

~Author's notes: Revised and editted on October 16, 2002 with a seperate and extended epilogue. This fan novella is in fact, Tekken 1 fanfiction, and aside from one character and some alluding in the plot, there is no mention of Tekken 3's story. This is not a romance by nature, so even though there are "couples" (if you can call them that) in this story, that is not the primary focus of the plot. If that bothers you, then go back to the FF.Net link page and choose another story to read. If not, or if you're brave enough to venture into this story, then I wholeheartedly thank you for your time. You won't regret what I have say, if you have the patience to read.~

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Canto

Chapter One

He sat outside the gas station, waiting, like he had been told, and sitting in the shade of the canopy and on still warm concrete. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, which was to be expected during the summers there, and the dusty horizon stretched out as far as the eye could see. He squinted and shielded his eyes, then smiled when he saw that shiny black sedan appear against the dry skyline. Lee Chaolan stood up and dusted off the faded blue jeans he was wearing and grabbed the old bookbag that had been sitting next to him as the car finally pulled to where he been waiting. The car stopped, engine still running, and the young man smiled at the tinted window then frowned at his reflection.

He was a mess. His pewter colored hair was going every which way, and just like his jeans and tennis shoes, the light green sweatshirt he was wearing was covered in dirt from all the walking he had done. His eyes had dark rings under them, and his lips were dry and cracked. For a moment, he felt like running away again, until the window rolled down, breaking his trance.

"Are you going to get in or stand there and gawk?" his brother asked coolly. Lee nodded once stiffly at Kazuya, then trotted over to the other side of the car to get in. The older man's face was drawn down in a taunt frown as he watched the silver haired man sit down and slam the door in one swift motion. Lee then glanced over at Kazuya then quickly looked down at his hands, which were trembling despite how tightly they gripped the dirty backpack on his lap.

"Thank you," he said softly. His older brother nodded once and put the car in reverse to pull out. 

As expected, it was a long, silent trip. Neither man turned on the radio nor attempted conversation with the other. Occasionally, Lee would glance over at Kazuya. It was obvious that the older Mishima had just come from work, since he was still clad in a clean white oxford shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the top button undone, however. And he wore neatly pressed black slacks and carefully buffed black loafers. His jet black hair was, as usual, slicked back, but there were a few wild strands hanging in his face today, and Kazuya would constantly bring up a hand to swipe them away in vain. Lee let out a heavy sigh and leaned back into his seat, still cradling his bag like it was a child. He then closed his eyes and listened to the soft, tuneless humming of the car engine.

He drifted off into a dreamless sleep for the rest of the trip. The only thing that woke him was muffled sounds of the electric gate to his family's estate creaking painfully open, and the younger Mishima brother blinked slowly and sat back up. Outside the windshield, he could see the considerable greener land that spilt out in front of the manor, which was still about a ten-minute drive away. The gate finally finished opening, and the car moved forward into the well-tended grounds.

Kazuya finally spoke first, "You're lucky I didn't tell him you were gone again."

"Hm?" Lee turned his attention to his older brother. "Tell who?"

"Dad. He's out of town again." The older man's gaze was still forward as he drove on the white gravel road that led up to their home. 

Lee frowned slightly, "Oh. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." A slight smile cracked on Kazuya's lips. "You got further out this time."

The grey haired boy rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, but I still ended up calling you to come get me. I'm pathetic."

"No, you're not. Your common sense just finally kicked in at the last minute," Kazuya's grin grew, and he glanced over at his little brother. "I would had missed you, you know."

"You keep saying that, but I don't believe a word of it."

"No, no," he laughed, "I would have. I actually was getting worried." Lee lifted a brow, shook his head, then looked out his window; there weren't any trees, however the grass kept getting greener and greener the closer Kazuya drove to the manor. Lee then pressed his forehead against the warm, darkened glass and sighed heavily.

"What's wrong with me?" he murmured.

"You just need to get rid all that teenaged mod angst you still have," his older brother sang.

"Stop it, Kaz. It's not funny."

"Who said I was joking?" Kazuya slammed on the brakes and put the car in park. He fully turned to face Lee and lifted a brow, his smirk gone. "I'm being serious. Whatever it is, you've been spewing this 'nobody loves me' shit since you were in high school. It's getting old."

"I've never said that," Lee protested; he hugged his bookbag to his chest in response to his brother's sudden preaching.

"Of course you haven't," the dark-haired man sighed, and his frown deepened. Lee blinked once at Kazuya then turned away.

"Don't you..." the boy began softly, "I mean, don't you hate him too?" His grip on his bag tightened as he felt his eyes watering up. He managed to blink away the oncoming tears, however, and turned back around to face Kazuya. He was surprised at the expression that his older brother had. Kazuya was still frowning, but it wasn't as threatening as it had been just moments before. In fact, it was a rather placid and oddly sympathetic look.

Kazuya looked away and placed a hand on the steering wheel. He didn't answer but instead put the car back in drive and stepped on the gas gently. The car crept forward then gradually sped back up to the steady pace that it had been traveling at before. Lee refused to look at the older man and continued to clutch his backpack. He then rested his head against his window again to watch the world slowly be swallowed up by the massive home that loomed forward. 

The car finally stopped in front of another pair of iron gates that stretched open. Kazuya sat quietly, both hands on the wheel, and his gaze was still on the house in front of them. There was only a bit a road left until it turned into driveway. The gates halted with a final moaning creak, and the car moved forward again, however this time at a considerably slower pace.

Lee sat up, but still kept his head turn toward his window. The sun was starting to set, and the sky was blossoming into brilliant hues of tarnished bronze. There was the light of mansion luminating the way now, ugly and wan yellow light. He felt his stomach tighten as they drew closer to the manor.

It was a beautiful home, three stories tall, and made of grey stone, obviously several decades old. It had been there since the 1920s, when Kazuya and Lee's great-grandfather had made a fortune with his appliance factories. The iron gates were still the original ones that were placed there, only with a few modern modifications for convenience, such as the remote control entry. Barely visible from the front was the garden. A strange thing to see in the Southwest, but was still well kept and noticeably Oriental in design, with the large bright crimson and gold poppy blooms and cherry blossom trees that contrasted the grey statues and stone posts that decorated the garden. There was even a small rock garden placed in the northeast corner of the garden, usually raked everyday by the boys' father, though neither brother really held an interest in Zen practices as the older man did. In the front of the home was a dried up fountain, decidedly covered in dried ivy. Like the rest of the house, it was made of grey, weathered stone, and, despite not being any water, made for a gorgeous centerpiece for the estate home. 

The driveway wound towards the back of the manor, and the garden came fully into view as Kazuya continued to drive. Lee lifted his head as he noticed his father was home now, carefully raking the sand around his rocks. The older man turned his attention to his son's black Oldsmobile when it passed him, and he adjusted the navy blue yukata that he was wearing, wiped his brow, and then went back to raking. The silver haired boy shuddered a bit and looked over at Kazuya, whose gaze was still fixated forward, his mouth still in a tight frown.

"I do," Kazuya said softly as they drove away from the garden and down a steep hill that lead into the garage.

Lee lifted a brow again, "Hm?"

"I hate him." The car slowed and pulled in next to a dark green Cadillac Deville and stopped; the engine still murmured softly. The older Mishima brother still looked ahead, now at the white sheetrock wall of their garage. "I hate him more than you do." 

And the engine stopped.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

The room smelt of freshly sprayed perfume, despite how late it was that night, and the lights were off. Michelle Chang dressed as quickly and quietly as she could in the dark, trying her best not to wake up her younger sister, who was snoring lightly. The older girl glanced over at the window and noticed headlights, and in response, she scurried over to check. As expected, it was her ride. She pulled away from the window, grabbed her bag, and then went back. Slowly, she lifted the window open, then dropped her bag out, then carefully climbed out herself, hitting the granite gravel below. She let out a little yelp as she realized that her shirt had got caught, and then sighed with relief when she managed to untangle it from the stray nail that it was hooked on without ripping anything. Then she cautiously reclosed the window, slung her bag over her shoulder, and trotted off toward the motorcycle that stood puttering by her mailbox.

Her date was a rugged looking fellow with long blonde hair and was covered in head to toe in black leather biker getup, right down to his black leather steel toed boots. His jaw was stippled with golden stubble, and his blue eyes gleamed at the young girl, who smiled as she finally reached the young man, and she fiddled innocently with her hair, which was twisted into two long dark brown braids.

"Nice outfit," her ride, Paul Phoenix, smirked as he looked the young girl up and down. She was wearing a pair of dukes and a red plaid workman's shirt, knotted right below her breasts. Her white sports bra was visible, and so was her cleavage. And then there were the brown leather cowboy boots she was wearing. She glanced down at herself then back at Paul.

"You don't like it?" she teased as she swung her leg over the back of the motorcycle to sit down.

"Didn't say that," he replied. His grin grew as he felt her arms wrap around his waist then her head resting on the back of his shoulder. When her body pressed up entirely against his back, Paul revved up his bike and took off. 

It wasn't long before the lights of the several small bars and convenience stores came into view and whizzed by as the two rode down the lit up main street. Outside, there were people standing drinking and smoking, sounds of heavy jazz and rock blared out the open doors of the taverns. Paul sharply turned a corner and sped down an alleyway. Michelle's grip around the blonde biker tightened as he turned again and zipped down a darkened street to the only lit place in view. As with the other bars, there was music blasting from the open doors, some blues this time. The bike stopped, and Paul balanced the machine between his legs to let Michelle off, then hopped off himself and kicked out the stand. 

He offered his arm to the young girl, "Shall we?" She laughed and took his arm, and two headed into the bar. The room got louder with greetings at the couple and such. 

"Hey, it's Phoenix," an older man cackled and waved.

"Hey, Lords!" Paul exclaimed, "Long time no see!" He turned to Michelle, "Hey, I'll be right back. I've got to talk to this guy." She nodded and pecked him on the cheek, then let go of his arm. The older man that had greeted the blonde meet Paul halfway, and the two men went towards the back of the bar, laughing and chatting the entire time as they disappeared into the cigarette smoke haze that hung in the air. Michelle sighed lightly then headed over to the bar to sit and wait. 

For several minutes, she sat in a barstool, resting her chin in her palm. Then she swung the seat around towards where her boyfriend had went, leaned back against the bar counter, and crossed her arms, pouting slightly at being left by herself. She didn't notice that Kazuya was sitting next to her, leaned over on the counter and occasionally glancing over at her then back at his beer bottle.

"Hey," he began. Michelle didn't hear him at all over the music that was playing and sighed again. So, he repeated himself, louder, "Hey, excuse me, miss." 

The girl turned her head, "Huh? Oh, uh, hi?" She gave the young man an embarrassed grin then turned in her seat to better look at him. In the back of her mind, she could hear herself screaming not pay any attention to Kazuya, but then there was another part of her that found him incredibly attractive right off. The tight, white tank top he was wearing showed off how muscular he was, and the faded blue jeans fit him just right. And it didn't help much that he had incredible smile as well. Michelle averted her eyes from the man for a moment, again embarrassed that she was practically gawking at another man while out on a date, but looked back up. He smiled lightly at her and straightened up a bit. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," he chuckled, "You looked kinda bored, so I thought I'd say something." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh, um, thanks," she replied, glancing again at the back of the bar; it was too dim to see well who was who back there. She sighed and looked back at Kazuya, then managed a smile.

"Waiting for someone?"

"Yeah, I guess," she shrugged. He smiled again at her, causing the girl to blush slightly. "He'll be back soon."

"I don't doubt it," he grinned, taking a swig from his bottle. "If I had came with a girl like you, I wouldn't leave you for very long." Michelle's smile broadened a little, despite her nervousness growing. The little nagging voice in the back of her head was now blaring and drowning out all the noise around her. And from the corner of her eye, she saw Paul pushing his way to through the crowd towards her, then pausing as he saw the other man. Michelle turned her head completely and smiled to greet her boyfriend, but then quickly became worried as he frowned, looking past her at Kazuya. The Mishima lifted a brow as he noticed the change on the girl's face and looked over his shoulder, only to see Paul marching towards him. Kazuya rolled his eyes and downed the rest of his beer, then like Michelle, turned fully to face the biker. The smile he had worn earlier was gone, and was replaced with a cynical calm, his mouth turned down into a half sneer.

"Well, well, well!" Kazuya sang, his sneer turning into a sardonic grin almost immediately. "Long time, Phoenix." He pulled away from the bar and hopped down from the barstool he had been seated on and leaned back onto the bar counter, crossing his arms slowly.

Paul's frown tightened and his flexed his fingers twice before balling them into loose fists. "I was about to say the same," he muttered coolly. The blonde threw a glare over at Michelle, who promptly bit her bottom lip and looked away when his eyes met hers. "I see you haven't changed, rich boy."

Kazuya snorted at the name he was called and straightened up, pulling completely away from the bar. "I don't get what your problem is with me at all," the dark-haired man chuckled, "I thought we settled that score ages ago, so what's the deal now?" He lifted a brow then glanced over at the girl sitting next to him. His face then brightened with enlightenment, and he gave a sideways grin over at the blonde. "I see...should had known." He chuckled again and uncrossed his arms. "Next time, I'll pay better attention to the 'Property of Paul Phoenix' tattoo on your girl's forehead."

"You just don't know when to stop do you?" Paul growled as he stomped over to Michelle and grabbed her arm. 

"Let's go," he said icily to her.

Michelle pulled away and frowned, "Wait a minute, don't I get say in this at all?" She crossed her arms, "First off, I don't even know this guy's name. Second, he hasn't done anything harmful to you or to me. And finally--" She shifted her weight to one leg and placed her hand on her hips, "--_You_ were the one that left me waiting here by myself! He was only trying to be friendly."

"You know," Paul mumbled, "you always choose the shittiest times to start getting mouthy with me." 

"You're a fine one to talk," she retorted coolly. By now the bar had quieted down at Michelle's sudden outburst, and all eyes were on the trio. The air was still thick with cigarette smoke. However, the hint at a possible brawl was lingering with the smells of smoke and booze as well. 

Paul rolled his eyes, "Do you even know who this brat is?" He gestured at the other man, who by now had crossed his arms again and stood waiting.

"Does it matter?" Kazuya sighed. 

"Hell yeah, it does," Paul growled. "You think just because your daddy owns everything in this goddamned town that you can just parade around like some little prince. Sorry, pal, the world doesn't work that way."

"I'm not the one making presumptions here," Kazuya laughed. "And...I think you'd best be listening to your lady friend. She has good common sense."

"And what is that supposed to mean, Mishima?"

Kazuya frowned, "It means 'fuck off, asshole.'" And that did it.

Paul threw the first punch, full swing with his right fist at the younger man's face. Kazuya blocked it easily with his right arm, and with his left, he decked the biker in the stomach and hopped back, taking stance. He lifted his right fist close to his face to guard it, and his left stayed near his torso. His breathing slowed as his concentration grew; however, he could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he anticipated another attack from his foe.

The blonde quickly straightened up and, like Kazuya, took a similar stance. Carefully, he side stepped and circled around the other man's, eyeing him with and taking small jabs at the darker man, all of which were blocked and dodged with ease. The crowd became excited at the outbreak of the fight and was cheering and hollering at the two men as they began fighting, both like experts.

The next strike came from Kazuya, as he came at Paul with a barrage of punches, ending solidly with a roundhouse to the head. Paul stumbled back as he attempted to block each hit, taking the kick the hardest, but still not falling down. He then squatted and with a swift kick swept Kazuya's feet out from under him, then backhanded him hard with his left fist. The other man grunted and fell into a table, knocking it over, then onto his back, but promptly kepped back up to his feet, kicking the blonde as he fully regained balance. 

As the fight began to move the spectators watching parted and cheered louder as the two men slugged it out, knocking down tables with each attack. Another table was flung out of the way as Kazuya managed to grab Paul and crescent kicked him, knocking the biker into the tables. A pitcher of beer splashed onto the blonde, and he groaned in disappointment as he was soaked. He quickly got back on his feet, however, and charged at Kazuya, who smiled and waited for Paul as he rushed towards the younger man. At the contact point, Kazuya uppercutted the other man cleanly, having taken advantage of Paul's rage.

All the meanwhile, Michelle stood at the bar with her hands still on her hips, disgusted. She then threw up her arms and shoved her way through the circle of onlookers. When she finally reached the two men, she frowned at Paul, who was struggling to get up, holding his jaw; he could already taste blood from a tear on the inside of his cheek. Kazuya was still in stance, again waiting for the other man to retaliate.

"Paul!" Michelle yelled. The crowd again became silent, parted for the girl completely, and let her through to her boyfriend, who was still wasn't standing straight up. Kazuya dropped his fists and went at ease. He nodded apologetically at the girl, who was kneeling next to Paul, one arm draped around his shoulder. 

"Just take me home, alright?" she said softly as she helped him up. The blonde nodded once stiffly, still rubbing his aching jaw. And the couple staggered off, Michelle clutching onto Paul as he stumbled and limped. 

As she passed Kazuya, she turned her head towards him and whispered, "I'm really sorry about all this," then continued to make her way towards the door with her injured boyfriend.

When finally out the door, the biker lifted his head at his girlfriend, "Why'd you do that?" He dropped his head again as they slowly headed towards his motorcycle.

"Simple, you were getting your butt kicked," she smirked. Paul let out a small moan and pulled away from the girl.

"Jesus, you don't get it, do you?" he frowned and limped furiously to his bike. Michelle rolled her eyes and jogged to catch up with him.

"You're right, I don't," she replied calmly. "I don't get why you'd want to get your brains beat out by a guy that's obviously a better fighter than you--"

"--That little shit isn't any better than me." Paul stopped as he finally reached his bike and leaned forward over it, planting his hands on the leather seat. 

"Okay, he's not," she shrugged, "But as long as you have that temper..." She wrapped her arms the blonde's waist and hugged him from behind. She rested her chin on his shoulder. 

There was no reply, aside from Paul's breathing, still heavy from exhaustion and anger, but Michelle continued to hug him. She sighed softly and nuzzled his neck.

She then smiled lightly to herself, "You know...it was kinda romantic, actually."

"What?" Paul rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder at the girl. Michelle pulled away and smiled at the young biker.

"You, being the knight in shining armor," she giggled and hugged him again. "I've never had a guy defend my honor before. It was sweet of you." Paul let out a laugh and stood up.

He turned around and grabbed the girl by the waist, "You have the most twisted idea of romance, Shelly." He then grinned slightly and leaned in, kissing her softly. She brought a hand up to his cheek and pulled away and smiled fondly at the blonde.

"I'm glad you think so," she teased. "Now, take me home?" Paul nodded at her then kissed her again before quickly pulling away to mound his motorcycle. After he was seated, Michelle hopped on and grasped tightly to Paul's waist before he took off again, leaving a small trail of white dust in the air from the gravel parking lot. 

When they finally reached Michelle's home again, she sat awhile on Paul's bike, still hugging him tightly. She then let out a deep sigh, not wanting to let go of him.

Paul turned off the motor, in fear that Michelle's family might wake up. He then glanced over his shoulder at the silken brown hair and smiled. 

"That guy at the bar... What was his name again?" she asked, not lifting her head.

"Oh. Yeah," Paul frowned, "Kazuya Mishima." 

Michelle lifted her head and pulled away, "Mishima?..." she repeated, her voice trailing. Alarmed, Paul turned fully around only to see that the girl's face had stormed over, her eyes distant and dark. "He's...not related to Heihachi Mishima, is he?" 

Paul nodded once and placed his hands on Michelle's shoulders, "Yeah, he's one of Heihachi's asshole kids." He frowned as he couldn't read Michelle's face. "Something wrong, Shelly?"

"No..." She forced a smile and pecked Paul on the cheek. "Everything's fine." And again she hugged him, "Look...I'm sorry, I shouldn't had yelled at you."

"It's alright," Paul shrugged, "Sometimes, yelling is the only way to get into that thick skull of mine." He smiled wearily at her and rubbed his jaw once; it was still hurting a bit, however the taste of copper was now gone. 

"Night," another peck on the cheek, and Michelle scurried off toward her bedroom window. Paul watched pensively as his girlfriend opened her window to climb back into her room. He then sighed heavily and restarted his bike.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

"Christ, Kaz, what happened to your hand?" Lee gasped as his older brother came in late that night. The older Mishima boy shrugged and sat down at the breakfast table in the almost too spacious kitchen, next to where the grey-haired boy was sitting and smoking. The boy was clad in nothing but a pair of green plaid flannel pajama bottoms, and was rather alert, considering what time it was. Kazuya then glanced down at his bloodied fist and smiled.

"Man..." he started softly, "I ran into that Phoenix guy..."

Lee rolled his eyes and took a drag from the rather stubby cigarette dangling between his fingers, "You might want to boil that hand, then." Kazuya let out a chuckle at his brother's comment.

"Heh, I really would miss you if you ran off," he snickered. "Your snide comments are too precious." He then stood up and went over to the fridge and opened it; he grabbed a can of beer then gestured at Lee to offer the younger Mishima a drink. Lee shook his head, and in response, Kazuya shrugged then strode back to the table and sat back down. "I tell you, though, he had this girl with him..."

"Oh?" Lee lifted a brow and smirked. Kazuya popped the lid on his beer and continued to grin. "I take it she was something else."

The older boy smiled, "Yeah, gorgeous, independent..."

"Get her name?"

"Nope!" Lee snickered at his brother as he took a drink of his beer. "That whole Paul trying to kick my ass thing got in the way of me getting her number."

"Doesn't it always?" Lee sang as he smashed his smoke into the ashtray sitting in front of him; a half full pack of cigarettes and a silver zippo sat next to it. 

Kazuya nodded, "Of course!" He grinned again, "So, how was your evening, my dear brother?"

"Hm....shitty as always," Lee shrugged. He leaned back in his chair and smiled wearily at his older brother. The dull look in his dark eyes told more than enough, but he continued, "The same crap over and over again. Dad got mad at me and spent most of the evening working on books in the den though, thank god." The look in his eyes became far off and distant, "I don't even know what I did this time." Kazuya looked down at Lee's arm and noticed the huge purple bruise on the younger boy's otherwise perfectly smooth porcelain arm. The older boy frowned and looked up at his brother's face again, and was startled by the serene smile that was on Lee's face, and the glazed over look his eyes had as the silver haired boy seemed to look past Kazuya. "Oh, then Anna called," he added absentmindedly.

"I...thought you broke up with her," the darker boy replied softly. He glanced down at his beer and grimaced, suddenly not wanting it anymore.

"I did," Lee smiled, "She just wanted to talk for a bit. We had a nice long chat."

"See, I told you!" Kazuya grinned, "She's the best thing that's ever happened to you! And another reason for you to stay here, if you feel that entertaining me isn't reason enough--"

--"She's thinking of leaving." Kazuya blinked, taken back by those words. "Her sister isn't helping much with their mother these days, and there's nothing left here for her." Lee smiled again, "I hope she goes through with it."

"I see."

"Sorry to let you down, Kaz," the younger brother replied in a pleasant, lilting voice.

"No, I'm sorry. I know things have been really bad for you lately."

Lee shook his head, "It hasn't been any different than from when we were kids. I'm used to it."

"Yeah, but..." Kazuya looked down at his beer, "I don't understand why Dad would adopt you then treat you like shit. It doesn't make sense."

"Heh, does anything he does make sense?" Lee grinned again and leaned forward, "Hey, don't worry about me." He placed a hand on his older brother's shoulder.

"I'm supposed to. You're my only brother," Kazuya looked up and frowned. "Regardless of the circumstances, you're all I've got now." Lee glanced down at his brother's injured fist then at the older boy's chest. He could see down his shirt, and in the dim light could make out the massive dark scar crossing his brother's olive torso. His hand slid down from the older boy's shoulder then pressed lightly against Kazuya's chest. Lee lifted eyes up at his brother's confused face, both fascinated and saddened. "Chaolan?"

"Like I said," the young boy began softly, "Nothing he does makes sense." Kazuya's lips parted slightly and he placed a hand over his brother's. "He loves you though."

The older Mishima brother shook his head violently, pushed Lee away, and stood up. 

"That man," he hissed coldly, "he's incapable of any emotion." He growled and turned away. Lee gingerly picked out one smoke from the package on the table and also grabbed his lighter. He then leaned back in his chair while he popped the cigarette in his mouth and lit up. He closed his eyes and took a long drag, then reopened then, gazing intently at his angry brother who stood in the middle of the kitchen, hands on his hips and refusing to look at his brother. 

"He's doing this on purpose," Kazuya finally replied to the silence, lifting his head up to glance at the ceiling then hanging it, one hand still rested on his hip while the other lay limp at his side. 

"Doing what?" Lee smiled as he pulled the cigarette from his mouth; smoke escaped through his nostrils as he waited for his brother to elaborate, which he didn't. Instead Kazuya let out a heavy sigh and headed out of the kitchen. "Going to bed, then?"

"Yeah..." the older boy murmured, "Right after I take care of this hand."

"Then goodnight."

"Night." After he said that, Kazuya marched upstairs, leaving his brother to his smoking. 

He slowly finished up his cigarette, then Lee sighed and grabbed his ashtray and his brother's beer as he stood up. He walked toward the same direction to the doorway that Kazuya had left through, stopping for a moment to dump the ashtray's contents into a wastebasket, along with the beer can, on the way there then again to turn off the kitchen light. He knew he'd probably get in trouble in the morning for smoking in the house again, but he was too worn out now to care. He turned back and looked at the kitchen, now lit by moonlight from the single window in there. A shallow sigh sounded from him and he leaned against the doorframe.

Somehow, this had all become some type of sick ritual in their household. Lee let out a low chuckle, finally getting at what Kazuya meant. And he watched the room grow slightly brighter as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He then turned and made his way into the family room and through it to the staircase that lead up to where his bedroom was. 

As he climbed the stairs quietly, he could see that Kazuya's light was on, and he smiled bitterly to himself and made his way up the stairs, then headed towards his room. When he passed his brother's room, Lee heard a whispering of his brother's stereo playing Mozart, meaning that he was probably trying to do his books for the evening, despite it being a Friday night. Lee frowned slightly.

He knew the only reason that Kazuya hadn't moved out yet was because of him, and Lee hated that. It only made things harder between his father and himself. But, he knew that his older brother meant well. That much he would admit to himself.

"What a waste," he mumbled at the door then walked over to his own. He then glanced over at Kazuya's door again and sighed. This was how it was going to be for the rest of his life.

  


*****

  


Anna Williams sat alone in the living room of the small home she shared with her sister and mother, carefully folding clothes in from a laundry basket into different stacks. Towels in one, linens in another, then her mother's bed clothes. She glanced up at the clock hanging on the wall. It was twelve past two in the morning, and Nina still hadn't made it home. The girl sighed and pushed a lock of her auburn hair out of the way before she went back to neatly folding clothes by the light of the kitchen's single fluorescent bulb. 

She was wearing a grey t-shirt that had belonged to Lee with a dark blue Trans-Am firebird logo on the front and a pair of navy plaid boxer shorts, and she had her hair pulled back in a black banana clip. However, she was still sweating from the night's heat. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't turn on the air conditioning because of her mother's illness, and opening the windows was useless, since it was a dry heat and no breeze outside. She began humming "My Favorite Things" softly to herself to keep from falling asleep.

There was a flash of headlights outside the window, and the girl lifted her head. The lights paused and hovered and she heard the slam of a car door then footsteps, and then the lights receded and faded away. Her sister was home. 

Anna stopped humming and mumbled to herself, "Took bloody long enough," then went back to into singing softly to herself, this time a Brahms lullaby. The door opened yet she never looked up from her separating and folding. 

"You're still up?" her sister's raspy Irish voice inquired lightly. The older sister hung up her black, thigh long leather jacket on the coat rack by the door. She looked lovely in the simple black t-shirt dress she was wearing, and the thigh high black boots. Unlike her sister, Nina was blonde, and her hair was pulled back into a French roll, which was slightly mussed now.

"Um hm," Anna replied to Nina, still folding clothing into tidy stacks. She never once looked up. 

"Oh, good god, you're still upset that I went out, are you?" Nina let out a soft chuckle and sat down on the floor next to her sister.

"Not at all," the redhead replied with surprisingly no malice at all in her voice. "With all the work I had to do, this was the only time I had to separate the linens today."

"Oh, I'm sorry, love," Nina replied pleasantly. "Can I tell you about my night?"

__

Do I have a choice? Anna thought bitterly to herself. 

"Please, do," the younger girl mumbled as she reached into the basket on the other side of her and pulled out several more pieces of laundry to fold.

Nina's smile grew a bit, "You wouldn't believe it." She straightened up a bit, "Emil asked me to marry him."

Anna's paced slowed to nearly a halt at that news. Her hands started trembling, and to hide her displease, she began folding and separating again. She never looked up, "You said yes, didn't you?"

"I haven't given him an answer yet," Nina grinned. "Anna, I love him so much... You have no idea how long I've waited for this."

"If it was as long and as excruciating as me waiting for Lee to ask me to run off with him, I'm sure I do know." The redhead continued to fold angrily. "What about Mama? Or what do you think Papa would have thought about you running off with some man twice your age? I'm sure he's turning in his grave right now..."

"Since when did you start caring about what Daddy would think?" Nina lifted a brow and frowned at her younger sister. "You didn't listened to a damned thing he said when he was alive, and I know that he wouldn't had approved of that Lee Chaolan when you were seeing him--"

"--At least Lee was my age," she replied coolly.

"Oh, yes he was, and he was rather wealthy as I recall," Nina mused as a sadistic smile crept across her face. "You can't ever be happy for me, can you?" She stood up and place a hand on her hip and pointed down at the redhead, "You're just jealous that I'm finally happy."

"Hardly, love," Anna replied, finally looking up. Her face was stern, but again not showing her anger. "I'm upset that when you do go off into your little realm of happiness each day, you seem to forget that you have responsibilities in the real world." Nina rolled her eyes at that response and crossed her arms. "In fact, you still haven't found a job, as far as I know."

"I have, thank you very much," Nina snorted.

"Really? Doing what?" Anna went back to folding her clothes, "Whoring yourself off to older men for a dollar?" 

The blonde's eyes narrowed, "I'll have you know that it's nothing like that. I'm doing quite well with my new job."

"Then what is it?" Anna stopped folding her clothes and looked up, her face placid, despite the feeling of anticipation that was arousing in her. Nina let out a soft yet haughty laugh down at her sister, who placed her hands in her lap, waiting patiently for an answer.

Nina glanced away then back at her sister, "Let's just leave it at I'm finishing what Daddy started." The blonde shifted her weight to her other hip then walked out of the room. 

Anna's eyes widened as she watched her sister disappear into the dark, and then back at her hands in her lap, which had started trembling uncontrollably after the blonde's answer. 

"No, she wouldn't..." the redhead tried to reassure herself with a shaky laugh. "She wouldn't." This, she repeated to herself several times before nervously attempting to begin folding clothes. However her hands were just shaking too much, and a terrible gnawing came over her stomach.

"Fuck!" she growled at herself and jumped up. She ran over to the light switch and turned on the living room light, then went over the closed door, solid oak gun rack that took up half the back wall in that room. She grabbed hold the little metal knobs, one in each hand. Her heart began pounding as she started to slowly pull both doors, still trying to convince herself that Nina had been lying. 

__

Just open it! a voice in her head screamed. She obliged gladly and threw open the doors. And her worst fear was realized.

The cabinet was empty.


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Lee stared at the clock on his dresser; the obnoxiously bright red numbers blinked once, changing the time to 4 a.m. So, he had been lying awake for three hours now. He couldn't quite figure out why he couldn't sleep. Tonight hadn't been any different from any other night he had in endured in that house. He fought with his father, sympathize with Anna over the phone, which was no different from when they had dated. Then he listened to Kazuya's useless optimist banter. Smile and nod. Smile and nod. He let out a frustrated sigh covered his face with a pillow. Anything for sleep. His breathing into the bag of cotton made the diminishing air under there to become unpleasantly warm, and he pulled the pillow off his face to check the clock one more time. 4:02.

He closed his eyes and slide his hand under the covers, then lightly ran his fingers over the area between his legs repeatedly until his felt him himself becoming aroused. _Yes, when in doubt, there's always that_, he sneered in his head. He sighed heavily and frowned, eyes still closed as his hand slid under the elastic of his bottoms and his briefs and curled around the erection he had.

For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what the hell he was fantasizing about. As his hand moved in careful, practiced movements, he saw nothing but black in his mind and heard nothing but a ringing in his ears. His hand moved faster, and in response, he bit his bottom lip to keep from making noise, considering the last thing he needed right now was for Kazuya to come knocking on his door, asking if he was alright. He opened his eyes, and his dick went limp as soon as he thought about his brother. There went that idea.

The silver haired boy grunted again and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of his bed. His arms jetted our behind him, rigidly propping him up at the moment, and for several minutes, he sat unmovingly, staring out the window in front of him. He then leaned forward and shifted his weight, allowing him to cross his arms and rest them on his knees. Another glance at the clock: 4:17. 

"Okay, I'll make myself tired in the dojo," he mumbled to himself as he stood up, arms still crossed, and he headed toward his door. 

He didn't bother to put on a shirt or shoes as he went out the backdoor in the kitchen to trek outside to the dojo they had. It was still rather hot, and it was starting to become warmer, with the oncoming sunrise near. He smiled lightly as he opened the door and peeked in, then frowned.

Kazuya was in there, silently practicing his katas. He stopped when he heard the faint creak of the dojo's back door and turned his attention away from the spectacular wall sized windows that looked out into the garden and at the backside of the Mishima mansion. The older boy smiled fondly at his brother and beckoned him to join in on the morning exercises.

"Couldn't sleep either?" the dark-haired man chuckled as he turned back towards the windows and took stance again. The sky was turning a copper green with the sun about to rise in an hour or so.

"Yeah...should had masturbated instead, though," Lee mumbled as he stood next to his brother, facing the same direction and took stance as well. The older Mishima began snickering at his younger brother's remark, oblivious to how true it actually was. Then the two moved in unison as they danced and flowed, the only sounds the rustling of clothing as the siblings moved with the sunrise and the rising heat. 

After thirty minutes or so, Lee paused and shook his head, "Okay, I'm tired, I'm going to bed."

"Sure you are," Kazuya laughed. He stopped as well and straddled himself out on the floor. He began stretching, leaning over his knee and grabbing his foot to lay his forehead on his leg. "No sparring, then?"

"Um, no," Lee shrugged, "I haven't slept since this time yesterday."

"Too bad," the older boy sang as he switched legs.

"Yeah, I'd say," The younger Mishima shrugged and sat down next to Kazuya. "Hey, Kaz," he began again. "If I freaked you out last night, I didn't mean to."

"No, you didn't," The older boy straightened up and grinned sheepishly, "I was drunk, you know. So, are you sure you don't wanna spar?"

"Not today." Lee stood up, "I have finals this week, must sleep--er, study."

"Well...think of this way, after another semester, you're done."

"Yeah...then I have to find a job." Kazuya cackled at Lee's blunt response. The younger man headed toward the door. "Anyway, I'll probably see you at breakfast or something."

"Sure thing," the older boy nodded as he went back to stretching, then lifted his head as he heard the door latch softly after his brother. 

Kazuya frowned to himself. It was actually very obvious that Lee hadn't wanted his company this morning, but as usual Kazuya had at least tried. He shrugged and stood up. That was enough practice for now.

He then rubbed his shoulder painfully. The effects of previous night's brawl were finally starting to hit him, and despite how much he had stretched, his legs and arms were aching. He then flexed the fingers of his now bandaged right hand. It seemed in better condition than the rest of him for the time being.

The door creaked again, and Kazuya turned his head, expecting to see his brother. Instead, his father stood in the doorway and crossed his arms, a pleased look on his face.

"Good morning, sir," Kazuya greeted quietly, bowing once at the older man, who was garbed in a black gi. Heihachi nodded once and entered the room.

Heihachi Mishima was a stern man, his mouth always drawn down into a tight frown. He was rather handsome, though, and was built and looked very much like his eldest son, though his hair was thinning and greying, and his face was weathered with wrinkles and frown lines. His upper lip was covered by a thick handlebar mustache that only made the frown he wore constantly stand out more. It suited him fine, though.

Today, however, he wore a slight smile on his face, pleasantly surprised to see his oldest boy training in the dojo so early. He even glanced down at Kazuya's bandaged hand and let out a low chuckle, knowing that his son had gotten into another fight the night before.

"You're never up this early," Heihachi mused, his deep voice filling the room. Kazuya felt his heart beating faster and a burning sensation from the scar under his shirt. He managed to nod at his father and forced a grin.

"Had a lot of pint up energy, so tried to work it off. Chaolan didn't want to spar though." Heihachi nodded again at his son.

The older man shook his head, "Your brother isn't much of a fighter."

"He fights fine. Almost better than me." Kazuya felt his face becoming hot from anger at his father's commentary. The young man actually did have a great deal of respect for how well his younger brother fought. It was a graceful and fluid mixture of Mishima tactics and gung ku. Kazuya almost always felt himself becoming envious at Lee's speed and agility whenever they sparred, feeling clumsy since the older boy had to rely on sheer power instead. 

"You're an excellent fighter, Kazuya," Heihachi added sternly, "You have discipline and tact. Lee Chaolan lacks that."

"I don't think it's so much that he lacks it," Kazuya shrugged, managing to keep his anger under control for the time, "He's just not interested." His father's face darkened slightly and the slight grin he had been wearing quickly turned back into the glower that Kazuya was used to seeing. Absentmindedly, the boy brought his injured hand up to his chest as he waited for his father to say something.

The man shook his head disapprovingly, "Always defending him, knowing full well that he would never do the same for you." Kazuya's hand dropped to his side. He didn't make a retort at that comment, because he knew it was true. A heavy sigh sounded from the boy, and he nodded once at his father again.

"I should probably shower now, sir," he said as he walked slowly towards the door; his hands were both curled up in to tight fists and stayed rigidly at his sides. The older man grunted once then strolled over to where the boy had been standing to begin his morning katas.

That had been the most that Kazuya had spoken to Heihachi in years.

  


*****

  


Jun Kazama sat outside of her boss's office next to her partner, who was reading a novel. Her hands were folding carefully on her lap, trembling a bit from anticipation for their case. The urgency that had been in her superior's voice had frightened her that morning. Though, her partner, on the other hand, seemed rather calm.

The man sitting next to her was Lei Wulong, who, despite how quiet he was at the moment, was a pleasant, outgoing young man originally from Hong Kong. He was wearing a blue satin tunic with its high, stiff collar undone at the time and a pair of black slacks and black loafers. His thick black hair was frizzy and poofed out that day due to the rainy weather, but he paid no mind to that as he read his book, the title of which that Jun couldn't read, since it was written in Chinese calligraphy. And on his face, he wore a lopsided smirk, the occasional chuckle coming from him as he read.

"You know," Lei began, his nose still in his book. "You worry too much, Jun." The young woman glanced over at her colleague, then at the closed office door. 

She sighed heavily, "This case though...I have a bad feeling about it."

"We don't even know what we're doing yet." His grin grew, and he let out another soft laugh at his book before pulling his little paper receipt bookmark out from the back of the book to mark his spot, closing and setting it on his lap. He then fully turned his attention to Jun, still smiling.

"Doesn't this bother you at all?" Jun frowned. "This waiting?"

Lei shook his head, "Not as long as I get a paycheck." The young woman blinked and let out a small giggle at her partner's reply. He grinned again, "I've found that keeping a good attitude makes life easier. You should try it instead of being so pessimistic."

"I'm not pessimistic," Jun protested. She quickly looked down at the patent leather Mary Janes she was wearing; they peeked out from under the long lavender skirt she wore that day. "I'm just being realistic," she mumbled to herself.

The young man laughed and shook his head, "I know that, but you forget that sometimes life does unexpectedly wonderful things once in a while. It's good to hope." He turned his head as that door in front of them opened, and a blonde women stuck her head out.

"Detective Kazama and Detective Wulong, Chief Chancey says he can see you now," she chirped brightly as she fully opened the door. Lei stood up first and stretched, book still in his hand and strolled into the office. Jun sighed heavily and stood up after her colleague went through the door and followed him. Her hands were shaking much more now.

The pair went past several cubicles, where they could see other cops and detectives working lazily that day; it had been rather slow for a Saturday afternoon, and most of the people were working at their desks and filing paperwork as a result. As the two walked through the cramped maze of desks, occasionally a fellow cop would greet them while shuffling papers or give a little wave while chatting away on the phone. Despite the light attitude everyone had today, Jun felt terrible.

At the back of the room was the door that led into Chancey's office, and after what felt like an eternity, the two detectives finally made it there. By now, Jun's heart felt like it was lodged in her throat, and her hands were clasped together to keep them from shaking. Lei stopped at the door and whistled a cheerful little ditty, then grabbed the doorknob. Before he opened the door, however, he turned his head back at Jun.

"Are you okay, Kazama?" he asked, noticing that she was still looked uneasy.

"Yeah, fine," she nodded. "And...I'll feel even better as soon as you opened that door." She managed a small grin at Lei.

"I think you're lying, but okay." The young man shrugged and turned the knob. He smiled at the older man sitting behind the messy desk; Raymond Chancey was talking on the phone and had a folder opened in front of him, glancing down at it as he spoke. He was a middle aged black man, tall and built solidly from his college days of playing football. His head was shaven bald, and he had a thick salt and peppered mustache. He looked up and smiled at Lei and Jun, then gestured at the two to sit down in the two seats facing the desk. 

". . .Alright, I have to brief a couple of my men right now," Chancey said into the phone. "We'll finish this later. Good day." And with that, he hung up the phone and sighed heavily. He then turned fully at the two cops in front of him and smiled again.

"Sorry about that," the older man began. "Some new recruits coming in on Monday, and was getting ready for that."

Lei nodded, "That's always good to hear."

"Maybe," the older man chuckled. "But enough about that, I'm sure you two would like to know what your next case is." He pulled away from his desk to open the drawer next to him, and after he opened it, pulled out an accordion file that was stuffed full. Chancey then scooted back to where he was sitting and set the huge file in front of Jun. The young woman lifted a brow and clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

"I know," Chancey chuckled, "A lot of reading. And..." He sighed heavily, "It's as important as it looks. The FBI contacted us because of the rep we have...I'm putting you guys on this since you're two of my best."

"What is it exactly?" Lei asked, also starting to feel a bit nervous.

The older man sighed and leaned back into his chair, "I'm sure you both know of the Mishima Corporation."

"Oh, yeah," the younger man shrugged, "Huge electronics and biotech company based in New Mexico. They make almost everything." Jun was silent and picked up the file in front of her and slipped the elastic off from around it as the two men conversed. "What's the deal?"

"A lot of things. The FBI's convinced that the CEO is running a drug trafficking operation underneath the whole thing, not to mention yakuza ties--"

"--You're kidding?" Lei sighed; he glanced over at Jun, who was reading and thumbing through the huge stack of papers that she had pulled from that brown file. He sighed and turned back to Chancey, "That just seems so weird and...unnecessary. Mishima's probably one of the biggest companies in the U.S."

"Not just the U.S., Japan, Europe. You name it, Mishima's there. Which also makes it a good suspect for what could be one of the biggest drug heists--"

"--No!" Jun suddenly yelled, looking up. 

Lei jumped at Jun's sudden outburst and turned his head at her, "Huh?"

"We are _not_ going to New Mexico!" Jun cried as she dropped the papers back on Chancey's desk. "Especially not Dreyfus."

The older man sighed at her, "Look, you'd be undercover, and there's an FBI agent there that would give you what materials and info you need, and he'll act as a means of contact between our offices and theirs."

"'Environmental and ecological protection agency representatives'?" Jun groaned, "What kind of cover is that? Not to mention, it's two thousand miles away!" Lei lifted a brow then glanced back at his boss who by now was leaning over his desk and had his hands folded one on top of the other and resting on the desk.

"I think the two of you will do fine. Beside, I heard Dreyfus was a charming little town," Chancey replied, grinning a little.

"Sure, it's charming if you love looking at dirt all day," she mumbled as she stood up." Her partner bit his bottom lip at her, then picked up the papers she had dumped on Chancey's desk.

"I'll just keep this," he mumbled as he stood up. "Don't worry, sir, we'll do our best." 

"Oh, I don't doubt it," the older man grinned. "And I'm sure as soon as Detective Kazama calms down, she'll realize what a great opportunity this is." Lei nodded in agreement and then glanced over at Jun, whose arms were crossed. Chancey stood up and extended his hand at Lei. "And good luck."

Lei smiled and shook it with his freehand, "Thank you, sir." He then turned toward Jun, "Um, we'll discuss this over lunch. My treat." Jun sighed, spun around, and stomped out of the office. 

Lei had to jogged a bit to catch up with his colleague, who was nearly completely out of the building by the time he managed to catch her.

"Well, that was great," he mumbled as Jun stopped and turned around. "I didn't know you were that against flying out of states for cases." 

Jun rolled her eyes and turned back around, "It's not that..."

"Okay, then what?" She didn't answer but proceeded to march out the building. Lei sighed and followed.

It wasn't until they reached her little white Honda hatchback in the parking lot that she spoke again, "I grew up in Dreyfus." Lei blinked at her as she unlocked her car door and got in. She stuck her head out her door, "Are you going to get in or not?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." The young man opened the passenger's side door and slipped in. He shut the door and clutched his book and the file to his chest. "Wow, so...would going back be a bad idea? Do people know you're a cop?" 

Jun shook her head, "Probably not... I was supposed to be here to become a dancer." She glanced over at Lei and smiled weakly. "And...I haven't spoken to my parents in years because of that."

"I can't imagine you dancing," Lei smirked as Jun started the car. 

"Neither could my father," she sighed. "But I'm sure he'll just LOVE finding out that I'm in law enforcement instead."

"No, you're not an officer. You're an eco fighter!" Jun nearly choked from laughter from Lei's retort as she backed out her parking space. 

"Gee, thanks for the reminder, Wulong."

"No problem."


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

It was unusually bright and hot that day, and the birds that normally were out flying about and singing were silent. Occasionally, the sounds of tires over gravel would mar the suffocating quiet outside Mao's den window, but mostly silence.

It bothered him. The only noise he could hear was the ringing in his ears as he worked and shuffled the papers around on his little desk. Even his children were unusually quiet today, no sounds of his two older girls playing or his youngest crying. He strained his ears for a bit, hoping to hear some kind of life. 

Still silent. Mao sighed heavily and stood up. Perhaps it was time for a break. He stretched and yawned, then trotted over to the door that stood ajar. He slipped out it, and cautiously crept down the little hallway that lead to the family room. He then peeked around the corner and smiled to himself. There were all three of his little girls seated in front of the television, watching cartoons. Of course, it was too hot to go outside today. He glanced over to the side and saw his father and his mother-in-law playing chess at the dining room table. He chuckled to himself as he saw that his father was wearing his little satin beanie, despite the weather outside. And finally, he heard the facet running in the kitchen, meaning his wife was in there.

Everything was fine. At least it seemed that way. However, Mao felt a terrible gnawing in his stomach as he watched the scene before him. It was like looking at a faded photograph, a frozen moment in time. And it felt like he was looking at it for the last time. He sighed heavily and turned to go back to work.

For several hours, he worked nonstop yet distractedly, jumping at the sound of every car that passed his home. He couldn't figure out why he was so nervous that day; everything was fine. His hands trembled as he wrote down the week's numbers into his books. He glanced up at the wall in front of his desk at a small gold pendant that hung there like a trophy. Mao shook his head and went back to working. 

He lifted his head again when he heard another car drive past, this time, however, pulling up into the driveway. He thought nothing of it, though, and went back to work. 

The doorbell rang, and he heard the voice of his second oldest proudly announcing, "I'll get it!" and the pattering of her bare feet as she ran to the door. It opened, then silence again. For several minutes, Mao sat unmovingly until he heard voices, quiet calm voices. He stood up and left his den, again carefully moving down the hall until he stood in the same place he had earlier that day. his hands began shaking violently at what he saw.

His daughter sat on the lap of a middle-aged man wearing a black suit, a black leather trench coat, and driving gloves, regardless of the obscenely hot weather outside. He was speaking in a rather friendly voice to her, fatherly even, and bounced her on his knee. The little girl smiled and nodded at what was being asked of her, though Mao couldn't make out what he was saying. He recognized that face though, that man that had intruded his home. His oldest girl sat near the well-dressed man, holding her youngest sister who was crying at the moment.

"Oh, Elizabeth, I'll get her," a voice from the kitchen sighed, then Mao's wife appeared. She leaned over the best she could as her daughter stood up and handed her the crying toddler. 

Helen was her name. She was beautiful, with long dark brown hair that came to her waist and a perfectly sculpted face, her cheeks well defined and rosying over her olive colored skin. She was pregnant and barefoot, and she wore a denim sleeveless maternity gown, and as she plucked the little girl in from Elizabeth's arms, she leaned back and with one hand, rubbed the small of her aching back. Helen then turned her attention to the man that sat with her daughter.

"Michelle seems to like you," she smiled weakly as she shifted her weight to better cradle the little girl she held with her free arm. "She doesn't take well to strangers."

"Ah, it's probably because I have children myself," the man chuckled as he patted the head of the girl sitting on his knee.

"Oh really?"

He nodded once, "Two boys. Both around the same age as this little one." He grinned and gently picked Michelle off of his knee and placed her on the ground. "My wife and I want a little girl someday."

"Mao wants a boy," Helen smiled again. "But the way things are looking, he's going to get another girl."

"Speaking of Mao, I came to see him about business."

Helen nodded once and shifted her weight again, "I figured that." She nodded once at the man, and he stood up, "He's in the den. I'll show you where it is."

"Don't bother," Mao finally spoke up as he walked into the room. Helen turned her head at her husband's voice and smiled discreetly at him. He looked past her at the other man that stood up at the sound of Mao's voice.

"There you are," the man noted in a friendly and thoughtful manner. He strolled over to where Mao stood and offered his hand to shake. Mao stared down at it.

"What do you want, Heihachi?"

The man frowned and his face darkened, "I think you know why I'm here." He glanced back at Mao's family, all of which stared blankly at the two men, excluding Mao's father, whose mouth was drawn down into a tight frown. The old man's eyes began to fill with sorrow as he gazed dully at his son. 

"Shall we discuss this outside?" Heihachi added pleasantly.

"Yes." The well-dressed man nodded once and followed Mao as he strolled to the front door and pulled it open. As Heihachi slipped out the door, he carefully latched the door shut behind him.

Outside, the Mishima's demeanor changed drastically, and his friendly face morphed into a stony face. His mouth dropped into a frown, and he kept his gaze forward toward the horizon beyond the road he had traveled in as the two of them walked toward Heihachi's black sedan.

"Your family and home are quite charming," he began quietly as he tugged at the leather gloves he was wearing. He stopped walking as they reached the car.

Mao blinked, "Thank...you."

"No, I mean it." Heihachi's face was still unreadable, "It's nice to know that you're not dead, Drew." Mao cringed. It had been twelve years since anyone had called him by his real name. Even his father had gotten used to calling him Mao.

"Heihachi....why are you here?"

"I came back to get what you stole from me." He smiled and turned his attention back to Mao. "So, will you give it back to me?"

"I can't do that," the other man replied weakly. "You know that."

Heihachi frowned, "Oh, no. That's not the answer I wanted to hear, Drew." He looked away at his car and at the dark reflection of himself that stared back, warped and morphed from the curves that shaped the car. He placed a gloved hand on the roof of the car, his gaze still fixated on his reflection.

"Drew, let me ask you something," he began again. "What made you think that you could just take what was mine?" He stepped away, his eyes still forward as his hand pulled off the car and slipped into his trench coat. Mao felt his heart racing, and the ringing in his ears amplified to a deafening level. "Besides, you had to known that I would had found you here."

Mao began to slowly back away from Heihachi before fully turning around and running toward the house. In one smooth motion, the other man pulled a gun from his coat and shot Mao in the leg. Crying out in pain, Mao stumbled onto the ground and began trying to crawl his way to the house as Heihachi calmly strolled up to the desperate man, and shot him again, this time in the stomach. Mao coughed up blood and grabbed his stomach with his trembling hands, unable to move any closer to his home because of the incredible pain he was in. The front door opened, and Helen stepped out. She screamed as she saw her bleeding husband and ran towards him. She dropped to the ground and threw her arms around him, crying out in a language that neither Mao nor Heihachi could understand. Her face contorted with angst and tears as she rocked her husband.

"Oh, God, please no!" she sobbed repeatedly. Mao sputtered up blood again as the other man towered over him, carefully aiming his gun at Mao's head.

"You know," Heihachi said quietly, "No one leaves the Zaibatsu without my blessing." He cocked the gun once and reaimed it. "I can finally give you that."

Helen looked up as she stroked her husband's hair, her face puffy and tear streaked, "Please, don't," she pleaded in a shaky whisper.

"Godspeed," Heihachi smiled. Helen covered her ears and screamed as he pulled the trigger. 

The entire time, Michelle had been sitting on the porch, watching with indifference.

That was thirteen years ago, and now the Chang household had an entirely different air. Helen was in the kitchen, mixing up bread batter in a huge clay-mixing bowl. Underneath her eyes were heavy bags, showing how much she had aged since then from fatigue and trauma. Her mother, Crow Ghost, sat unmovingly at the dining room table, a beautifully embroidered black yarn shawl thrown across her shoulders. Her face was scrunched up as she concentrated on the ongoing game of chess that she and Wang had been playing for the past two days. The old man sitting across from her stroked the little white beard he had then pulled off his satin beanie off of his bald head; it was too warm to be wearing that today. He then grinned and moved a black rook to take over the white knight that stood in the way. The older woman frowned and shook her head. She then glanced back into the kitchen.

"The little ones aren't up yet," the old woman noted. Helen nodded and continued mixing in silence. She then stopped, only to go to the cabinet for a bottle of vanilla extract. 

"It's Saturday, they can sleep in," Helen finally replied quietly. "Besides, they're nearly adults now. I can't keep telling them what to do." She dumped a cap full of vanilla in the bowl and began mixing again.

"I suppose so," Crow Ghost chuckled softly. "It's just such a nice day. It's a waste to spend half of it asleep." She turned back to her game and moved her pawn out.

Down the hall, Michelle was in the shower. She still reeked of cigarette smoke from the previous night and was trying to wash it from her hair. Plus, she could hear her sister banging on the bathroom door, but pretended not to hear her.

"Dammit, Michelle!" Gabby yelled as she pounded, "You've been in there forever! I want to brush my teeth!" Michelle rolled her eyes and continued to shampoo her hair. 

__

Too bad, she thought to herself. _When Liz was still living here, I had to put up with it. You can live_. 

"I know you can hear me!"

"Go use the other bathroom!" Michelle finally called back. "I'm washing my hair!" Gabby threw up her hands in disgust and marched down the hall into the breakfast room where everyone else sat. The older Chang girl sighed with relief and went back to showering.

As she rinsed and relathered her hair, she went over the events from last night in her head. It just seemed so strange to finally see a Mishima again after all those years. And not being able to be angry with him, despite the hatred she held toward Heihachi. She frowned and closed her eyes as she massaged her scalp again. And why did he have to be so damned good-looking to top it off? Her hands dropped to her sides as she cranked her neck underneath the shower nozzle to rinse her hair again. He did have such a nice smile, nicer than Paul's.... Her eyes whipped opened as that thought crossed her mind.

"No," she chuckled to herself. "I love Paul, and that's that. Besides, he's a Mishima." She frowned to herself as she said that. Even Paul had a beef against that family, though it was much more petty than her own reasons. But still, Kazuya wasn't Heihachi, right? She sighed heavily and turned her head to the side to let the water rinse away the suds on that that side. She shuddered lightly and began running her fingers through her hair. She could still smell the smoke faintly underneath the botanical fragrance of her shampoo. It would have to do for now.

Michelle emerged from the bathroom in her red terry cloth robe and entered the breakfast room.

She sang at Gabby, who sat in front of the television, "You can have the bathroom, Gabriel." The younger Chang turned her head and stuck out her tongue. She then jumped up and whizzed past her older sister. The two elderly people at the table chuckled at each other then went back to their game. Helen, however came out of the kitchen, frowning.

"Michelle," she began as she reached her daughter, "Don't do that to your sister."

"Sorry," the girl shrugged. "Really, she could had brushed her teeth in the other bathroom."

"A thirty minute shower though?" Her mother shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. 

Crow Ghost chuckled, "Oh, let her be. Michelle's at that age where she has to look nice for all the boys."

"Don't remind me," Helen sighed lightly. She gave Michelle a weak grin, "Just...be more considerate of your sister. Okay, sweetie?"

Michelle nodded and turned back to head into her bedroom.


	6. Chapter Six

Chapter Six

She was going to have to spend another evening alone. That, Anna had had gotten used to, not being able to leave the house for very long or at all as she cared for her mother. However, she sat at the kitchen counter, dialing on the phone that number that she knew all too well. She listened to the other side ring then glanced up to see Nina leaving out the front door with Emil, both dressed up for the evening. The blonde turned and gave her little sister a little wave before disappearing for the rest of the night. Anna sneered at the door as it closed then went back to her phone call.

Finally, someone picked up.

"Hello?" Kazuya asked.

"Hello, Kazuya, it's Anna," she replied brightly as she moved a lock of hair in her face to behind her free ear.

"Oh, hey! Um, Lee isn't here..."

"No, no. That's alright. I wanted to speak to you." There was a bit of uneasy silence at Anna's response. She continued, "That is alright, isn't is?"

"Oh, yeah, sure," Kazuya laughed. "You just kinda...caught me by surprise."

"Oh, I'm sorry, love," she sang. "I wanted to ask a favor of you."

"Okay, shoot."

"Well, it's about a job. I...really need a job."

Another awkward pause, then Kazuya finally replied, "I don't know if I can get you one at the company, if that's what you mean."

The girl chuckled softly, "Oh, no. I meant more personal services. If it's all possible, could we meet and discuss this in person?"

"Personal services..." Kazuya let out a heavy sigh. "Um, where do you want to meet?"

Anna smiled to herself, "Do you know where the Friar's Cafe is?"

"Yeah."

"Can we meet there? Tonight?" She shifted in her seat as she waited for an answer from the young man.

"Sure. How about around eight?"

"Perfect," she grinned. "I promise, you won't regret this."

"Anna?..."

"Yes?"

"This doesn't have anything to do with Lee, does it?"

"Of course not," she frowned. 

"Okay, I'm sorry."

"No worries. And I'll see you in a bit."

"Yeah, later." They both hung up.

Anna sighed heavily and hopped down off of the barstool she had been sitting on and trotted off towards her mother's bedroom. She knocked, then carefully opened the door.

The room was filled plastic tubs of medications and cleaning supplies, and it had a very clean, medicinal smell to it that was overwhelming. It almost made Anna choke, in fact. As she slipped into the room, she looked up at the bed. The thin, frail figure that was lying in there looked like a mummy, with sunken in cheeks and hollowed out eye sockets. The old woman's chest raised up and down painfully with each breath she took, and the thick wool blanket that was covering her looked like it was crushing her delicate skeleton.

"Mama," Anna began softly as she sat down in a chair that was next to the bed. There was a faint rustling of cloth as the old woman turned her head at her daughter, her eyes milky and clouded over from illness. Her mouth was gaped opened as she gasped for air like a fish out of water.

"Mama," the girl began again as she gently held her mother's bony hand, "I have to leave for a little bit tonight. Will you be okay?" The old woman nodded once and turned her head away to gaze at the ceiling, though she was completely blind.

Anna frowned, "Mama, are you sure?" 

"Anya," the old woman murmured, "Live." The girl felt her eyes tearing up when her mother said that, and she leaned over and kissed her mother's forehead. It felt pleasantly warm against her lips. 

"I promise, I won't be gone long."

The old woman closed her eyes, "I'll....still be here whenever you come home."

"I love you, Mama."

"I....love you too." The old woman's hand went limp, and her breathing stopped. Anna's eyes widened, and her throat closed up. She pulled away and gently nudged her mother, her eyes desperate.

"Mama?" She bit her bottom lip and nudged her mother again. "Mama?" Her eyes were stinging now, and she hunched over and began sobbing.

  


*****

  


Anna left straight from the hospital to go to the Friar's Cafe, as she originally planned to that evening. She was dressed in a red short sleeved dress that came to her knees, and a pair a black canvas Mary Janes. Her hair was neatly straightened, and she wore some light makeup. However, her eyes were red and still stinging from all the crying she had done.

In the past three hours, she hadn't been able to get a hold of Nina and ended up leaving several messages on the Emil's home answering machine. Of course, it would probably be another five or six hours before she heard anything from either one of them. Somehow, that didn't bother her as much as she felt it should had.

As she drove downtown then out towards the city limits where the little cafe was located, she wondered what she was going to do now with her life. She was so used to having to take of someone else, that now she felt useless and lost. Her eyes watered up again as her destination came into view.

There weren't too many people there, and in the parking lot, she could see Kazuya's Oldsmobile, and she chose to park in the space next to it. When she got out, she chuckled a bit at how shabby her little green Caprice looked next to his car, then headed towards the building. When she reached the door, she took a deep breath and tried to composed herself, though she faintly knew how terrible she must look. Finally she forced a smile and entered the building.

The door jingled as she walked in, and immediately she spotted Kazuya, who was wearing a blue flannel shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a pair of dark blue jeans, and he was sitting in a booth near the back of the room. He looked up and smiled as he saw that Anna had finally arrived. He then stood up and met her halfway. His smile disappeared when he saw Anna's face.

"Are....you alright?" he asked softly when he reached her, placing his hands on her slender shoulders. She glanced away, then back at Kazuya, her eyes starting to water again.

"Could we go somewhere else to talk?" she asked in a whisper.

He nodded, "Yeah, sure." She smiled weakly, grabbed his hand gently, and led him outside. 

As soon as the door closed behind them, he asked, "What happened?" Anna let out a heavy sigh and began fishing in her purse for her car keys.

"Don't...worry about it," she sighed, her head still down at her purse. Kazuya didn't reply but leaned against his car and crossed his arms.

"So....are we going to my place then?"

Anna lifted her head, "Lee isn't there, is he?"

"No."

"That's fine then." She at last pulled her keys from her purse and walked over to her car. "I'll just follow you." Kazuya nodded and pulled his cars keys out his pocket.

The trip to the Mishima estate felt longer from the oncoming darkness, despite the way being lit by moonlight. Anna had never had to drive to the manor, since Lee usually just took her there, and she drove nervously behind Kazuya, which was made all that much more difficult from nightfall. But at last, they made through the gates and up the driveway to the large stony building. And, like Kazuya had said, Lee's car was gone, as was Heihachi's.

She parked outside of the garage after Kazuya had pulled in, got out, and walked towards the young man as he stood waiting for her by the house entrance in the garage. 

When she reached him, he asked again, "Anna, what happened?" She chuckled harshly once and crossed her arms. She was biting her lip again to keep from crying.

"I...my mother passed away this evening. Right after I called you." She grinned slightly, though there were tears trickling down her cheeks again. 

"Oh...god. I'm sorry." He hugged her.

She was startled by Kazuya's concern and act of affection, since Lee never had done that for her. In fact, during the entire time they dated, she often wondered if she was a burden to the silver haired boy, as he often acted as if he was bothered by her, even right up to when he finally broke up with her, giving her no reason aside from, "This isn't working."

Her body stiffened while she was in the older Mishima brother's arms, despite how wonderful they felt around her. She never even remember once when Kazuya had said anything to her, aside from the occasional hello as he would briskly leave the room to work or go out, and with little or no eye contact. She just assumed that every Mishima man was like that. Men of little words and incapable of conveying what they were feeling into actions or words. But this...

Kazuya pulled away, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you..." He completely pulled away, "I just remember how hard it was when our mother passed on. I wouldn't wish that on anyone." He frowned and turned away to open the door in front of them, then glanced back her as he entered. She followed quietly and for the first time in nearly a year, entered the grand home. Kazuya flicked on the lights

They were standing in the kitchen and breakfast area, but he led her out into the family room and offered her a seat on the couch. She nodded to thank him and sat down rather stiffly and properly. He sat on the opposite end of the couch from her.

"Now, this job..." Kazuya began quietly, turning fully to face Anna. "What is it?"

"Protection," was all she said, her hands on her lap. She was wringing them nervously, and she refused to look up at him.

"Okay..." Kazuya sighed and leaned back into his seat.

"I know, it sounds odd, but...I have reason to believe that someone's going to go after your family in the near future."

"Do you know who?"

"Yes." She lifted her head and gazed intently at Kazuya, "My sister."

The young man didn't reply and blinked at that answer. Anna smiled slightly at him, her hands now still and resting on her lap calmly. The older man frowned and sat up a bit to better eye her.

"Your sister," he repeated cynically. "Even if I did believe that, what would you be able to do about it?"

Anna frowned, "Plenty." She stood up in front of Kazuya and placed her hands on her hips. "I could even give you a demonstration, if you'd like, love."

Kazuya rested his cheek in his palm and looked up at the girl in front of him. He then thoughtfully clicked the roof of his mouth with his tongue and glanced away at the glass coffee table in the middle of the room. He looked back up at her, slightly amused.

"Not in here," he chuckled. As Kazuya stood up, Anna stepped back to make room for him. She crossed her arms and lifted a brow at her host. He managed a small grin and began to walk towards the garage exit again, turning to beckon the girl to follow. With a light sigh and her arms still crossed, Anna obeyed.

He led her out into the dark and through the garden to the dojo in the back. She had never been in there, even when dating Lee. That made her think it was something sacred to the family, or just something that Lee never felt needed to be shared with her. Or rather, something he didn't want to share with her. She looked the garden as they passed through it in wonder. Though the blossoms were closed, it was still a lovely sight, more serene and inspiring than she could had ever imagined, had only seen the statues and trees from afar and behind windows. The little cobble stone pathway that lead up to the dojo was lit up by small lamps protruding from the ground, tracing the sides of the way. 

The inside of the dojo was faintly visible from the behind the huge glass walls that faced the garden. Anna squinted to try to see better inside as she and Kazuya strolled past there to the entrance of the building. The young man in front of her stopped when he reached the door.

"Have you ever been in here?" he asked quietly. She shook her head at him and placed her hands abdomen. "Really?" He lifted a brow, a bit surprised at that answer. 

Anna smiled slightly, "I suppose I never had a reason to be here."

"Hmph," Kazuya frowned and opened the door. 

Once inside, Kazuya led her into the middle of the room. She looked around. There was a large silkscreen partition that took up the back of the room of a beautifully painted tiger, surrounded by gold leaf clouds and black ink wash grass. The gold glinted from the moonlight that poured in from the huge windows. The floors were hardwood and smooth, and like the partition, light bounced off of the wooden floor panels and luminated the room softly. Anna looked up and noticed that Kazuya was taking off his shoes. She quickly followed his lead and slipped out of her shoes.

"This isn't much," he shrugged as he picked up his shoes and hers and moved them, setting them by the door.

"Isn't much?" Anna laughed, "This is much nicer than any of the places I've trained." As Kazuya stood back up, he lifted a brow. She noticed the look on Kazuya's face and sighed. "You're still having doubts, aren't you?"

"Of course."

Her grin grew, and she took stance as he approached her cautiously, her arms up to protect her chest, but still offensive in nature. As Kazuya took stance as well, Anna's breathing slowed and deepened despite the anticipation she had, and her shoulders bobbed up and down rhymetically with each breath. She could see the amusement on Kazuya's face in the pale lighting in the room as they carefully circled each other, both leery of attacking before the other. 

Finally, Kazuya dropped his guard and sighed, "This is ridiculous--" He immediately found himself laying flat on his back, his chest tightening in pain. It took him a few seconds to realize that Anna had kicked him solidly in the chest as soon as he let his arms down. He attempted to sit up but was gently pushed back down by Anna's foot. She was now standing over him, her legs on either side of his body. Kazuya looked up, a bit unnerved that he was the one lying helpless on the floor. He turned his head away and let out a frustrated sigh. 

As he looked back at Anna to say something, she daintily sat on his stomach and on her knees, her legs straddled around him. She rested both her palms on his chest and gazed down at Kazuya. Her face was completely different.

He had been used to seeing that timid, quiet face of Anna's that had often been afraid to make eye contact. But she was staring down at him, her hair hanging around her face and obscuring it a bit in shadow. He could make out her blue eyes, however, and how blankly they stared back at him. His lips parted slightly, and a long breath escaped, revealing the awe he had of her at the moment. Anna tilted her head to the side, eyes still fixated on the older Mishima brother pinned beneath her, her face still unreadable.

His hands slid up her thighs and rested firmly on her hips as he waited for her to do something. Anything. Anna let out a little chuckle at Kazuya, who still gazed up at her, his face now stony as well. Her hands snaked towards his neck, and carefully she began unbuttoning his shirt, then parted the flannel from his skin, exposing the scar on his well defined chest. Kazuya kept his eyes on the girl, doing a good job of hiding his pleasure of her finger lightly tracing the contours of the thick skin.

"How did you get this?" she asked in a low whisper. She felt his hands beginning to caress the outsides of her thighs then move to lift up the skirt of her dress. The feeling of his hands on her bare skin was wonderful, the roughness of his palms against her softness. Her face, though, didn't show that as she waited for an answer. His hands moved in towards the insides of her thighs, and he discovered that she wasn't wearing anything underneath her dress. 

"My father..." his voice trailed as she slid one of her hands off of his chest and then behind her to his groin. Slowly, she unzipped the fly to his jeans and slipped it beneath the heavy cloth. His eyes closed as she began to deliberately and methodically stroke his half hard dick until it was fully erect. She then stretched and flattened herself out on top of him, guiding every inch of his length inside of her with her hand as she finally brought her face down to his.

Their lips never touched, however. He reopened his eyes to stare up in to Anna's icy gaze as she rocked up and down him. She was sitting upright again, and her hands were planted back on his chest. His hands moved again to her hips and clasped down to them as his own hips began ramming up between her legs in time with her body. 

The entire time they made love, both were silent and detached. Their eyes never left each other, locked in a gaze that went from mutual fascination to hatred then to indifference as both of them came closer to climax. Anna threw back her head and let out a shaky gasp as her muscles tightened around Kazuya's hard on. At that moment, he wrapped his arms around her back, forcing her flat against him, and he managed to flip her around and was finally on top on her. He then continued to thrust in and out at of her at a maddening speed, his teeth clutched beneath the tight frown he still wore until he finally came.

  


*****

  


He just sat up and leaned back on his good arm, resting his bandaged arm on one leg drawn to his chest; the other leg out stretched as he gazed numbly out the large windows. The moon had shifted, and the shadows had grown longer and more grotesque in form. When she opened the door, she turned her head towards him.

He didn't look back and simply stated, "We'll discuss how much you'll receive in pay later." She looked down, ashamed, and bowed out the door. 

When she got home, Anna was surprised to see Nina sitting at the kitchen table with an empty bottle of scotch and a glass; she was still dressed nicely from that evening. The blonde's face was puffy and her eyes were rimmed with red from crying. She let out a shallow sigh at her sister, and her bottom lip quivered.

"Where...where were you?" Nina asked dryly, her voice cracking. The younger girl glanced down at her feet then back at her sister, not sure what to tell her. "I got all the messages you left around nine, and...." The blonde hunched over and began sobbing, "Where the fuck were you?"

Anna placed her hands on her stomach and gazed intently as her sister, "I had to take care of something." She was startled by how even her voice came out, though she was beginning to feel sick and lightheaded after what she had just done then the sudden reminder of losing her mother.

"What? Did you go off and fuck that little shit again?" Nina growled as she looked back up at the redhead. Anna's gaze dropped to her sister's hands, which were shaking violently. "He treated you like garbage, and you still go off and suck his cock like a whore! And then you just conveniently forget that you mother died and that your sister was trying like hell to find you." Nina hung her head and grabbed the sides of it. She sobbed again, "God, what the bloody hell is wrong with you, Anna?!" 

"I wasn't with Lee at all tonight," Anna retorted, again, her voice was calm. "Besides, I tried to get a hold of you for hours from the hospital. I didn't think--"

"--No, you didn't think. You didn't think at all," Nina looked up, her face tear streaked. 

The younger girl's face was still placid, and her hands stayed on her stomach, regardless at rage that her sister was throwing at her. This was perfect.

Anna had to work to keep from smiling at her sister's moment of weakness. For once, Nina had been the one waiting. For once, Nina had been the one in distress. Finally, the bitch knew what it was like, how painful it was waiting alone.

"If you weren't at Lee's, where were you?" Nina mumbled.

Anna calmly replied, "You're drunk, get some rest." She then walked past her grieving sister and towards her room. Nina shuddered as another fit of anger came over her, and she buried her face in her palms and wept.


	7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

He stood nude in the bathroom, staring at his reflection in the mirror that hung over the wash basin. Nearly an hour of showering and scouring himself clean in scalding hot water hadn't washed the feeling of disgust Kazuya had for himself, and though still dripping wet and shivering from cold, he gazed dully at himself, washed out from the pale, ghostly light of the fluorescent lighting in the room. 

It reminded him of that night so many years ago. That night that was supposed to had been a rite of passage for Kazuya, but instead left him scarred physically and emotionally. Then, he had stood in the same place and in the same way, his prepubescent body bloodied and covered with scratches and wounds. 

He could still feel the sharp rocks cutting the soles of his bare feet, and his fingertips being rubbed raw as he climbed and clawed desperately as wet sticky tears fell down his dirt caked cheeks. And the moment when he finally did pull himself up to where he was safe, Kazuya had just curled up on the bed of dead grass and wept to himself. His chest was throbbing with pain as the wound there rubbed against the thick fabric of his stained and ruined gi. He stayed there and cried himself to sleep that night.

When Kazuya awoke that next morning, the sun hadn't risen yet, and the sky was still a deep velvet violet. He sat up, chest still hurting, but the bleeding had stopped. It was then, he finally looked down at himself and what was done to him, as he carefully opened the shirt to his white gi. 

He hadn't realized how large that gash was, as it cut jaggedly across his right breast and downward to just a few inches above his navel. It was still raw but not bleeding as much due to all the dirt and dried blood. The boy stared down at where he had been mutilated for the longest time, until he heard the morning's first bird begin singing brightly with the coming sunrise. He stood up slowly and painfully, and began to slowly make his way back to his home.

There wasn't anyone there when he got home, which meant that his father had left for the office, and his mother had taken his brother to the market that morning. And as he stumbled slowly through the house, a trail of blood followed him. He went straight to the bathroom on the second floor, and as he reached there, numbly began shedding his clothing until he was nude. He stared at the facet knobs on the wall in the tub for several minutes, before reaching over and turning on the hot water, then the shower nozzle above the tub. The boy then stepped in.

He just stood there and let the water run off of him, and the water swirling around his feet turned red and brown as all the filth on him ran off in little streams of steaming water. Finally, the boy grabbed a bar of soap and began scrubbing violently at every part of his body. The wound on his chest began to bleed again, however. Kazuya didn't pay any mind to that, though, and continued to wash himself until he finally just threw down his soap down in frustration and sat down in the corner of the tub. He drew his knees up to his chest and began sobbing again as he hugged his knees, water beating down on him and drowning out the sounds of his crying.

Almost an hour later, he finally tired himself out from weeping, and stood up. He turned off the water and stepped out of the tub carefully. His chest was still bleeding, but it didn't hurt as much as it had the night before. He limped slowly over to the basin and mirror, not paying mind to the mess he had left in the room at all. The profuse bleeding that came from his chest from the huge gash he had received as he had fallen that day had weakened the boy considerably, and he leaned over the basin and grasped its edges shakily. The white tiles of the floor and the bathtub were left smeared with blood, and its thick scent had filled the room. However, the only person that saw that room when it was in that state was Lee, and the little boy had only stared at his older brother in silence when he opened the bathroom door with a strange look of fear and awe on his face.

Today was no different, and Kazuya lifted his head as the bathroom door creaked open slowly , like it had ten years ago. And like then, Lee blinked once at his older brother, silent, and brought his brother out of his remembering and back into reality, and the younger boy entered the room and quietly latched the door shut behind him. He then stepped over to his brother and hugged him from behind, wrapping his arms around Kazuya's bare waist and resting his head on his brother's muscular back. Kazuya only responded with a shiver and dropped his head. The older Mishima brother squeezed his eyes shut as he felt hatred for his younger brother fill up in him. His shoulders tensed up and tightened, as did Lee's arms around his waist.

The only sounds in the room were the humming of the lights and the occasional heavy sigh from Kazuya as he waited for his brother to leave. However, the older boy would admit dimly to himself that he liked the nuzzling on his back, the occasional stroking against his stomach, and even just having another body pressed up against his so affectionately after the rather impersonal evening with Anna. It was just who was doing it that bothered him.

Lee had always been oddly physically attached to Kazuya like that. When they were just boys, the younger Mishima often would creep into his brother's room at night and climb into bed with him. That was something Kazuya never quite understood until he did finally see the bruises on his younger brother's limbs and torso. And the way that their father responded to the younger boy was rather cold; the boy had been adopted for show, publicity to make Heihachi look better in the eyes of the public. However, the little boy was either considered a nuisance or was ignored completely in private, especially after their mother passed away. And that left him starving for attention.

Kazuya couldn't count how many times Lee had ran away from home when they were growing up. Most of the time, he was brought back by Kazuya, who would go out to look for him after either becoming worried himself or when Lee called to be picked up. And it was often those nights after he had been brought home by his older brother that the younger boy would crawl into bed next to Kazuya and cling to him, burying his face into the other's chest as he softly cried himself to sleep. Kazuya had never known how to respond to that and always kept his hands to rigidly to his sides. Even after Lee had long stopped sneaking into his room, Kazuya knew that the younger boy still had problems sleeping at night and would wander the house at night or just sit out in the dojo until sunrise. Even so, that didn't keep the older boy from feeling uncomfortable and even resentful at the concern Lee was showing with almost the passion of a worried lover at the moment.

Kazuya kept his head down, "I'd like to be alone right now." He felt Lee's hair brush up against and tickle his skin as the younger Mishima pulled away completely, without making a sound. The older boy only looked up when he heard the door latch shut again to the mirror in front of him. However, when he saw his reflection, two glowing red eyes wearily peered back at him. He jumped back, startled, and blinked, but when he looked back into the mirror, he saw his own dark frightened eyes staring back at him. He closed his eyes in fear and reopened them. His eyes were still dark brown, though now wild and fearful. He then quickly grabbed his bathrobe and threw it on. After that, he shut off the light and hastily left to head down stairs. 

There were no lights on, except for the kitchen light, and Kazuya emerged from the living room and into the kitchen where Lee sat alone with a cigarette dangling from his mouth unlit. The younger boy glanced up at his older brother, who stood in the doorway with his robe open and watching quietly, then back forward to concentrate on lighting his smoke, his face unreadable. He stayed silent and leaned back in his chair, propping his bare feet up on the kitchen table and kept his gaze forward and away from Kazuya's. The older boy frowned.

He remembered that evening after he had returned from those hills beyond their home, Kazuya came back into the bathroom, clad in only a clean robe and bandages, after being tended to by their mother, only to see his brother on his knees, scrubbing away at all the blood on the floor. The twelve year old was shirtless, his blue jeans rolled up to just below his knees, and he worked vigorously. He had only stopped to look up at his older brother and smiled slightly, then went back to cleaning. In response, Kazuya had said nothing but leaned in the doorway and watched the entire time. It was also then that the older boy noticed the little strands of grey scattered in his brother's dark brown hair.

Kazuya blinked, entered the kitchen finally, and sat down next to Lee, who didn't respond and continued to smoke in silence. 

"Lee, I'm sorry," Kazuya began softly, "I know, you were just trying to help." He kept his eyes on the silver haired boy and waited for a reply. 

Lee pulled the cigarette from his mouth and let out a harsh chuckle, "You never call me Lee." In the dim lighting, Kazuya could see his brother's eyes watering up, though his face was still placid. The younger Mishima was silent again and took a long drag from his smoke. Kazuya let out a long sigh and looked away from his brother, not sure how to answer. 

"Chaolan?" There wasn't an answer from the boy, however he closed his eyes and let out an angry huff. Kazuya bowed his head and stood up. "Good night."

As he left the room and entered the living room, he glanced back; Lee still was looking out forward, his arms crossed as he reclined. His cigarette hung delicately between his fore and middle fingers. The older boy shook his head once and turned back around to go up the stairs.

After he entered his bedroom, he didn't bother to get put on his bed clothes but flung himself on his bed immediately, back first. It wasn't until he was in bed that he realized how tired he was, his eyes growing heavy as he stared up at the ceiling. Before long, he found himself drifting to sleep.

He dreamt of himself falling into blackness, his body limp like he was dead as he fell further and further away from light. The only sounds he could hear were of his childhood, pleasant sounds of Lee and he laughing as children, his mother singing Japanese lullabies, the sounds of the morning birds announcing daybreak... And all those sounds became fainter and fainter until they completely faded away, as he plunged into the never ending dark. And Kazuya, like his happy memories, were swallowed by the void.


	8. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

Lei and Jun sat together at the Friar's Cafe that next Monday, waiting for their so-called contact to show up. It was late, and nearly an hour before the place closed. Jun's eyes were dull and tired, and she kept painfully rubbing her temples as she conversed with her partner, who also wasn't too happy at this point. She picked up the half finished cup of coffee in front of her, her hands half hidden beneath the sleeves of the oversized grey sweat jacket she was wearing over her white tank top and denim capris.

On the other hand, Lei kept lifting his head every time the door opened and closed, with no luck whatsoever. He kept tugging at the black t-shirt he was wearing, as if it was too small, though like Jun's sweat jacket, it was baggy on him. Lei glanced down at his watch again for had to be the twentieth time in the past thirty minutes.

Jun murmured to herself, "They never seemed like bad people..." She rubbed her temples again, "This whole case is...argh!" Lei looked up at his companion and frowned as he reached over and patted her on the wrist.

"Hey, this place isn't all that bad really," he managed to smile. "It's just this guy we're supposed to be meeting is late." He glanced over at the door as he heard it open again; it was just another customer leaving. Lei sighed and turned back, "Besides, I'm sure you know all the great night spots here." He cracked a grin and leaned back into his seat.

Jun chuckled harshly, "If you like seedy bars, there's plenty of them here." She finished her coffee and leaned back in her chair as well. The young man in front of her let out a amused laugh at her reply.

"Okay, I guess no bar hopping tonight," he snickered. "While we're waiting, why don't you tell me about your childhood."

Jun lifted a brow, "What?"

"You know, your friends, what you did in high school, if I'm ever going to meet your parents--"

"--I'd take you to meet my parents, but then they'd think I was pregnant and getting married to you...no matter what I told them." Lei fully busted out into laughter at that remark, and it made Jun crack a small grin. She sighed and chuckled, "There isn't much to tell, though."

"Oh, come on," Lei teased playfully, "there has to be something. Like...did you ever get to see any of Mishima's children?" Jun straightened up at that question, and her forehead wrinkled up in thought.

"Funny, you should mention it, actually I was in high school with both of them...I remember the youngest better...."

"Ah! We're getting somewhere now!" Lei leaned over the table on his elbows to listen. A huge smirk broke across his face as he waited. "So, what was he like?"

Jun rolled her eyes and chuckled, "Yeah....Chaolan Lee-Mishima. He was...interesting."

"Stuck up?"

"Well, no. He wasn't. He was just...WEIRD."

Lei nodded in enlightenment, "Ah, weird. As in goth-weird, nerdy-weird, or let's-not-go-there-weird?"

"He was really quiet. And--" she leaned over to the bookbag that was sitting next to her and dug through it until she found what she was looking for, a photo of the Mishmas that was ten years old from that file Chancey had given them; there was Heihachi looking exactly like Kazuya did now and his wife, both smiling serenely at the camera. In front of the couple Kazuya and Lee both sat rigidly and properly, neither one of the boys smiling. She placed it in front of Lei and pointed to the smallest boy in the photo, "--He was completely grey by the time he was in high school." Lei lifted a brow as he saw that Lee's hair in the photo was dark brown. 

"Kooky," he commented. "Stress, I take it?" He grinned up at his partner.

"I have no clue, and don't want to know either. But...he didn't look bad. In fact, he was by far one of the best looking guys I've ever seen." Lei bobbed his head again and sat back in his chair.

"Wow, so that one's a freak of nature. Know anything about the other?"

Jun shrugged, "Not really, except my friend Paul used to get into fist fights with him all the time."

Lei lifted a brow, "Oh...was Paul a boyfriend?"

"Heck no! He's like three years older than me, and was just, you know, a buddy." She smiled, "We'd go out and hang all the time."

"Never saw, uh, whatshisface in person then?"

"Kazuya, and not very often," she said, her voice tapering off and her eyes becoming distant. Lei frowned at the change in Jun's face and straightened up in his chair. "We never did say much to each other, but I could tell...there's something wrong with him."

"Like what?"

Jun shrugged, "I'm not sure, but he frightened me." She sighed, "And if that's how it was, I could almost understand why Lee turned out the way he did." Lei nodded once stiffly at his companion. The cafe door opened, and the two turned their heads. A young man entered the room and scanned it, then smiled and waved as he saw the couple sitting in the back. Lei sighed with relief and stood up.

"Oh, man, sorry I'm late," the man apologized as he made his way to the detectives. Lei nodded and looked the boy up and down and could tell that this agent was fresh out of training. He had short bleached blonde hair cropped close to his skull and small, piercing blue eyes. Like Lei, he was wearing a black t-shirt, but he had a long sleeved white tee underneath it as well. Over his legs, he wore a pair of oversized khaki cargo pants and had several wallet chains hanging from his waist. Lei also noted the large tattoo on the side of the younger man's neck, a completely black stylish decoration reminiscent of Aboriginal art. 

Jun rolled her eyes and stood up as well, "It took you long enough."

"I'm really sorry," he extended his hand, "I'm not from here at all, and I got lost." Lei nodded and shook the young man's hand, and then Jun did the same. "I'm Bryan," the young man smiled. "And again, this is my fault, but we should probably find another place to talk."

"Right, right," Lei agreed. Jun swooped over and grabbed her bag.

"You guys got into your apartments all right, I'm hoping?" Bryan asked as he wrung his hands together nervously.

Jun nodded as she straightened up, "Yeah, that's taken care of." The boy sighed and smiled.

"Great, why don't we talk at one of you guys' place? Probably the safest bet."

Lei nodded in agreement, "I'd say. And...you follow us, so you don't get lost."

"Heh, gladly," Bryan grinned.

  


*****

  


Bryan smiled, "Now, that doesn't sound too difficult, does it?" He was seated at the small dinette set in Lei's temporary apartment, while both detectives were on the couch in the living room area that was adjacent to kitchen. Jun nodded once and leaned back into her seat.

"But exactly...how long will this take?" she asked wearily.

"Depends on how long it takes to find what we need," the young man shrugged. "That could be a few months. Or longer." The girl rolled her eyes, again regretting ever leaving New York. "I know, and I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Lei shrugged as he stood up to stretch. "You're just here on duty, just like the two of us." The older man smiled, "Besides, this will be a nice change of scenery, I think." He glanced down at Jun.

"Hey," Lei started again, "It doesn't sound like we have to do much. Just gather info and report in occasionally. That isn't bad, right?"

Jun shrugged, "I guess." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "And is that all, Agent Fury?"

  
"For now," Bryan shrugged. "Of course, I'll let you know if anything develops on our side or any changes."

"Great." Jun stood up, still rest her forehead in her palm. "I'm going to head back to my place then and call it a night."

"So soon?" Lei teased as he patted her on the shoulder. He smiled uneasily at her when she didn't respond right away. "Not feeling well?"

"No." She looked up and managed a small grin. "I promise I'll be in tiptop condition tomorrow. I'm just worn out right now."

"Okay...get some rest." She nodded and proceeded to gather her things before leaving Lei and Bryan for the evening.

She still felt ill that evening as she sat alone in her new apartment. The sounds of her neighbors, a couple of college aged boys, murmured through the walls and were mostly the whispers of ska music and off-key drunken singing. Then silence and the opening and closing of a door.

The room grew darker over the hours that Jun sat silently to herself on the white couch that had been provided. Everything about the apartment was obscenely clean and virginal looking. White furniture and walls. And the soft off-white carpet underneath her bare feet.

She hated it. The longer she sat there, the more she wanted to just tear apart everything in the little apartment. The white walls reminded her too much of her childhood. The perfect little girl she had to be for her father, all the little white dresses and patent leather shoes. The terrible thing was, she never managed to break away from that. Whenever she went out, her clothes were always nice, conservative looking outfits, carefully picked out from a bland selection. And almost always white, as much as she despised that color. Even as an adult, she couldn't bring herself to change. This was what people thought of her.

She hadn't told Lei the truth that evening. She had seen Kazuya quite often, and yes, hated how he looked at her. The times she ran into him when she was with Paul, the blonde would never notice the glances that Kazuya would give Jun, since it was something that was exchanged discreetly, and almost privately.

She wasn't sure why he chose her out of all those other girls. She was rather plain and very typical looking as far as Asian girls went. She never wore make up, and her black hair was always combed out of her face, sometimes behind a headband. Yet, Kazuya always would look at her from across the room, as if waiting for Paul to leave. That would never happen, of course.

There was one time that she could remember clearly. It was the night of her senior prom, which she didn't attend yet still wore the white satin gown that her father had bought for her. She left the house with her "date", a young man named Marshall Law, then had him drop her off at Paul's apartment. 

Paul had opened the door clad in nothing but a pair of blue jeans, the top button undone, and he was unshaven. His hair was messy, yet it just made him that more attractive. Of course, the blonde had been surprised to her see her, but he smiled fondly, let Jun in, and shut the door. 

"No dance for you, Junie?" he laughed as he offered her a seat on his couch. She shook her head silently at the young man and remained standing and folded her hands on her stomach. He frowned at her silence, "Too bad. You look...great." The girl then slipped out her dress and pressed her nude body against Paul, who was trembling and quite speechless at the act of seduction that the girl was doing, though he did kiss her back when she brushed her lips against his and wrapped his arms around her slender waist. And before long, he found himself lying on the floor, his fly completely unzipped, and Jun kissing him on the neck then moving lower on his body ever so slowly with her kissing and fondling.

She never spoke to Paul again after that evening, and even left while he was asleep, dressing quickly and quietly, then leaving hastily. And as she walked home in the dark, she felt like she was being followed. She kept looking behind to see if there was someone there, however, all she would see where the rose tinted street lights and the long shadows they made. Her pace quickened, and Jun practically ran down the street, her white heels tapping noisily against the pavement, until one of her heels broke and she tripped. As she fell, she let out a little yelp, then sat up. She hadn't been injured at all, but still cursed under her breath at her ruined shoe as she picked it up and stood. Her head was still down and she leaned over and took off her other heel so she could run better. However, when Jun straightened up, she gasped, startled.

Kazuya was standing in the distance, leaning against a building. And for a moment, their eyes locked. It wasn't at all like the other times, where Jun had seen some kind of monster, but it more impersonal, and almost as if he didn't recognize her. His eyes were dull until he noticed that Jun was staring at him, and he pulled away from the brick wall, confused then frightened himself.

__

Run, you don't want to be near him! a voice screamed. Jun couldn't tell where it had come from, though it was familiar, a concerned male voice. She glanced back Kazuya, whose lips were parted, as if he was saying something. But it was his eyes....

She ran. There was no looking back, and she just ran home. And as she finally made it into her house, she nervously dumped her shoes in the kitchen garbage can, then went upstairs. Luckily, no one had been awake at the time.

Jun stood up as she realized the room had darkened to the point that it was nearly impossible to see, aside from the blue digital clock display on the microwave in the kitchen and the slivers of rosy light that were thrown on the floor by the blinds. She felt her way over to the living room light switch and turned it on. She frowned as her vision blurred as it readjusted to the sudden light, then Jun made her way to the kitchen. 

She stopped as she noticed the phone on the wall then walked over to behind her counter to reach for the receiver and to dial. And absentmindedly, she dialed and waited. The dial tone dragged on for several seconds until there was a click.

A lilting female voice at the other end answered, "Kazama residence." Jun felt herself become sick again as she heard her mother's voice for the first time in years. She stayed silent and just listened. "Hello? Are you looking for Ineda? Hello? Hello?"

Jun hung up.


	9. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine

The funeral was small, as expected, as only Nina, Anna, and Emil attended. It was nothing like the funeral that the girls' father had had. So many people had attended then: friends, family, and enemies all wept for Richard Williams. But no one would remember Dorothy Williams aside from her two daughters. And right after the services, the two girls watched alone and in silence as their mother was cremated. They were going to send the ashes back to Ireland to be spread, and that was the end of it. Everything was out of their hands now.

Nina had been the one to drive, and as she drove back to their little home in silence, she would glance over occasionally at her younger sister, whose face was blank the entire trip. 

Finally, as the pulled up into the driveway, Nina said softly, "I told Emil yes." She looked over at Anna again. The younger girl's expression hadn't changed any at all. However, as soon as the car stopped, she hastily got out of the car and slammed her door. She then marched up to the house and inside it, again slamming the door behind her. Nina let out a heavy sigh, turned off the car, and followed her sister inside. 

"What did you expect?" the blonde asked when she finally caught up to Anna in the kitchen. Anna refused to make eye contact and angrily opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a pitcher of iced tea, then went over to the cabinet and pulled out a drinking glass. Nina watched hopelessly as her sister poured her drink, then went about slamming the cabinet and fridge doors again. The then redhead stormed out of the kitchen with her glass. Nina scurried after her, "Anya?"

Anna spun around, "You could had waited!" She then turned away and headed to her room furiously. Nina didn't hear from her sister for the rest of the day.

She left Anna to herself that evening. Very rarely did Nina ever feel terrible about the things she said or did to her sister, but this time, she was quite distressed when she left the house, not wanting to leave the younger girl alone; she had heard Anna weeping to herself in her room behind that closed door but didn't know how to respond. Then she left and sped down the streets in her grey Volkswagen until she reached a small bar. She parked there and jumped out, still clad in her black dress from that afternoon. She walked into the smoke infested place, music blaring at her as soon as she opened the door. She coughed a bit, then squinted, and smiled weakly as she saw who she had came to see, a well dressed middle-aged Japanese man, sitting in the back corner and made her way through the maze of tables and drinkers.

"You're awfully dressed up," then man smirked as Nina say down opposite of him. He took a drink of his whiskey then gestured at a waitress to come serve him. "Bring a bottle of scotch here for my lady friend!" he ordered at the server, who nodded and scurried the best she could to the bar.

"I had a funeral to attend earlier," the blonde replied flatly. "Now, where's my money, Takahashi?" The waitress returned and set a bottle of scotch and a glass in front of Nina then walked away. The older Williams girl then helped herself and poured a glass. She took a long sip, keeping her eyes on her client, then set her glass down, waiting. 

"Oh, yes. _That_," Takahashi smiled. He leaned over to the side of his seat, pulled up a briefcase, and placed it flat on the table in front of the blonde. He then popped it to reveal that it was packed full of stacks of hundred dollar bills. "This is half of what I promised."

"Half?" Nina's eyes narrowed. "I don't work unless I get the entire thing--"

"--Ah, ah, ah!" the older man warned as he wagged a finger at the young woman. "This is too important. If you fuck up, we're all fucked. You, me, and about fifty other people that want Heihachi Mishima dead. This has to be done right." He smiled and closed the briefcase. "Or would you rather I find someone else?"

Nina frowned, "It's not that...."

"Ah, then we _do_ have an understanding." Takahashi grinned. "You did such a good job for me last time," he slid out of his seat and stood next to Nina, and began stroking her hair affectionately. "That shot at Carson was just beautiful and too clean." 

He smiled fondly down at the blonde and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "You're a much better shot than your father...and a lot prettier." 

Nina shoved him away, "Hands off, you pervert. I'm not a prostitute."

"Of course," the older man chuckled as he straightened up and dusted off the black oxford shirt he was wearing then sat back down. "So, this payment now. The rest after Mishima is out of the picture."

"I should kill you for doing this to me," she growled.

"But...don't you want revenge on Mishima, too?" Takahashi sighed in a mocking manner. "Afterall, you have to do what Richard couldn't--"

"--How dare you!" Nina stood up and grabbed her money, "My father was a wonderful man! And...and..." she felt tears forming in her eyes, "You've no right to speak of him that way! After everything my family's done for your bloody cause!" She then marched off.

Takahashi leaned back in his seat and grinned thoughtfully at the blonde as she exited the bar.

  


*****

  


The phone woke Anna up that evening from when she had cried to sleep after locking herself in her room. She was lying curled up on her bed, still wearing her black dress from earlier, and as she slowly stretched out and sat up, the girl rubbed her eyes painfully. Then she reached over to her nightstand to pick up the phone.

"Hello?" she asked quietly then cleared her throat as she waited for a response. Her forehead wrinkled as she heard none.

After a few moments of silence, a voice replied softly, "Anna?" She frowned as she heard that and shifted in her seat.

"This is certainly a surprise," she mused weakly. "I didn't think I'd ever hear from you again."

"I'm sorry," Kazuya apologized in a low voice. He was silent again for a few seconds.

Anna's frown deepened and she sighed, "Is this about the other night?"

"It's business. I need to see you about a job."

"Is that a 'yes' or a 'no'?"

Again, there was an awkward pause, then Kazuya responded, "Just...when can you come over to the house to talk?"

The girl glanced toward her window. Through the open blinds, she could see that her sister's car was gone. She sighed to herself, knowing she wouldn't see Nina again until morning.

"I suppose in about an hour or so. I need to shower," she finally answered. 

"Okay, then I'll see you in an hour," the man replied flatly before hanging up. Anna blinked and pulled the phone away from her ear. She then placed the receiver back, stood up, and stretched. She glanced over at the change of clothes she had put out before the funeral and grabbed those plus a pair of sneakers and headed to the bathroom.

  


*****

  


Nina headed hastily to her car in the parking lot, then stopped as she heard Takahashi running after her.

"Nina!" he yelled, "Wait just a second!" The blonde sighed angrily and spun around to face the older man. Takahashi stopped to catch his breathing, leaning over and heaving heavily, then straightened up and frowned as he saw Nina's face, "Oh, don't tell me you were really pissed off?"

The blonde snorted, "And why wouldn't I be? You insulted me and my family." She turned back around and proceeded dig in her purse until she found her keys and tried to unlock her door. However, the key wouldn't turn.

"Shit!" she cursed to herself as she continued to try different keys. "Why isn't that working?" The older man frowned and walked up to the car and stood next to the blonde.

"You know...I can try to unlock it," he offered with actual sincerity in his voice. Nina turned to him and lifted a brow. "Go back in and call a locksmith...it looks like someone tried to break into your car and failed." She glanced back at the Volkswagen then at Takahashi. 

Nina sighed heavily, "And if you do get it opened?"

He smiled wearily, "You won't have to pay for a locksmith." He nodded at her again to go and started digging in his pockets. "Go ahead." The blonde sighed, turned, and trotted off across the lot back towards the bar.

Takahashi pulled out his own keys that had a pocket knife attached to them and then flipped up the tiny blade then stuck it on and rattled it around until the lock popped. In triumph, he grinned and straightened up. By this time, Nina had nearly made it back to the bar.

"Hey, Nina!" he called over his shoulder, "I got it unlocked!" Nina turned around to see Takahashi smiling at her in the distance and turning to open her door to show that he was telling the truth and pulled on the handle. "See?--" 

The car exploded, showering burning glass and metal everywhere. Nina screamed as she covered her head and dropped flat to the ground, and the sounds of the crowd in the bar was silent and replaced with the stampeding of feet as everyone in there ran over to the door to see what made that loud boom, then gasps. The blonde sat up slowly; there were pieces of glass embedded in the flesh of her bare legs, yet she didn't notice as she stood up painfully and looked over towards the burning inferno. Her car was completely destroyed, and several others near it were on fire. 

There was no sign of Takahashi.

"Takahashi?!" she called desperately. "TAKAHASHI!" She tried to limp towards the fire before she was pulled back by Paul. 

"Are you crazy?" he said as he turned her around carefully. "Another explosion might happen with all those cars!" 

"But...but..." The girl began crying and buried her face in her palms, which were covered in cuts and bled. "That was my car! He...wasn't supposed to..." The biker put an arm around her and led her inside the bar; sirens could be heard as the police and fire trucks raced over to the parking lot. 

  


*****

  


". . .Oh, good," Heihachi smiled slightly as he spoke on the phone. Though it was nearly eleven at night, he was still at the office and sat behind his desk in his spacious office. "Then you took care of that hitman." He glanced over at his clock. "That will be all." He pressed a finger on the receiver button and dialed out. As he waited for the other side to pick up, he tapped a pen on the top of his desk with his freehand.

"Hello?" Kazuya asked.

"Kazuya, it's your father."

"Good evening, sir. Still at the office?" Kazuya's voice had become dull after hearing Heihachi's voice. 

"Yes," Heihachi replied flatly. "I'm just calling to inform you that I have to leave for Boston immediately. I will not being coming back to the house at all tonight and won't be home until the end of the week. Possibly even through next Monday."

"And what would you like me to do?"

"The usual. You usually handle my affairs quite well. I trust you. My notes and the week's itinerary are in the den, as always. And note there's a business meeting with the heads of G-Technologies on Thursday."

"I was aware of that, sir, and I'll do my best to take your place for the time. Anything else?" The older man grinned slightly at how formal and mechanical his son was being at the moment. Unlike Lee, Kazuya was very careful about what he said or did in front of Heihachi.

"Yes, about your younger brother... I want him to take an internship here this summer. Have him start this week if at all possible."

"Yessir." In the background, Heihachi could hear the doorbell.

"Are you expecting guests?" he asked quietly.

"Yes."

The older man let out a chuckle, "Then I won't keep you any longer. I'll call you again Thursday to check up on everything."

"Enjoy your trip," Kazuya replied then hung up. 

The older Mishima hung up his phone as well, then leaned back in his leather chair. He could hear sirens speeding by his office building, and he smiled to himself.

  


*****

  


Kazuya hung up the phone and strolled quickly over to the door; he was still dressed for work, wearing a navy oxford shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows and black slacks; his shoes and socks were off though. The black tie that he was wear was loosened quite a bit, however, and his hair was still neatly in place. He opened the door and nodded at Anna.

The girl had showered and dressed quickly before leaving, since it took nearly an hour from her house to get to the Mishimas'. As a result, she had thrown on a grey hooded sweatshirt that was almost too big for her without bothering to put on another shirt underneath and a pair of flared light colored jeans. Her hair was pulled back loosely with her black banana clip, and she wasn't wearing any makeup, which Kazuya thought she better without it as he noticed that. The older man smiled slightly at her and moved to the side to let Anna in.

"I'm sorry about calling so late," Kazuya apologized again.

"No worries," the girl smiled weakly as she entered the house. "Where's Lee?" She turned and sat down on the couch, then gazed intently Kazuya.

"He'll be home soon," the young man replied as he closed the door and headed into the room. He walked past Anna, however and into the kitchen. Kazuya then stopped at the counter and picked up a white envelope. The girl turned to better look at him, and her eyes followed the young man as he reentered the living room and stood in front of the girl. She stood up as well and looked down at what Kazuya was carrying.

"This," Kazuya began quietly as he handed her the envelope, "is your payment for your first job." She tugged at it gently to find that he was gripping the other end quite tightly.

"What?" she smirked up at him, still holding her end. Kazuya wasn't smiling back at all, however, and Anna frowned back.

He replied, "I'll call you again in about a week to tell you exactly what's going on, but I wanted to pay you up front." She nodded once quietly. "But, promise me one thing, will you?"

"Yes?" She tugged at the envelope again; it still didn't pull out from the older man's grip.

"Don't ever pull a stunt like you did Saturday again."

"You didn't like it?" Anna looked up innocently at Kazuya. Keeping her eyes on him, she tugged again. The envelope didn't budge.

"I didn't say that," he said. "It's just, this is strictly business and..."

"And what?" Her hand moved from the envelope and up to his wrist, but her eyes were still looking up at Kazuya's. He then leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips. In response, the younger girl smiled and kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him, and his arms snaked around her waist, and they embraced passionately until the front door opened.

Immediately, the two of them pulled away, and Kazuya turned his head to see his brother blinking at him in shock. Anna bit her bottom lip then glanced back at Kazuya nervously.

All Lee responded was, "Oh...I get it," then hastily bowed at the door and latched it shut. Kazuya let out a frustrated sigh and rubbed his temples painfully as he felt a headache coming on.


	10. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten 

Jun awoke that next morning stretched out on the couch still clad in the clothes she had worn the day before. She glanced over towards the kitchen and saw that it was after nine, then looked over to where she was sitting. A near empty bottle of rum sat at her feet. She chuckled harshly then groaned in pain as she realized that she had a terrible hangover. The phone rang and she cringed and stood up. She then stumbled over to the kitchen phone and picked it up clumsily. 

"Hello?" she mumbled. 

"Hey, Kazama, I've been calling all morning!" Lei sighed into the phone. "Where've you been?" 

"Asleep," she replied sheepishly. "Why so frantic?" 

"You didn't hear?" Lei asked, astonished. 

"Hear what?" 

"About the car bombing at the Louisville Bar--" 

"--What?" That woke Jun up, and she sat down slowly in one of the barstools at the counter. "Did anyone get hurt? I mean..." 

"Yeah. One person got killed, a Hiro Takahashi. And one injured, a Nina Williams." 

"Nina Williams? I know her!" Jun gasped. "Is she alright?" The girl waited nervously for a reply. "Wulong?" 

"Yeah, she's fine. Got a few cuts and bruises. Nothing too serious. Last I heard from Bryan was that she was being kept at St. Michael's Hospital under observation." 

Jun sighed with relief, "That's good. Then I can go see her!" 

"Wait, you know we're here undercover..." 

"Lei, she and I grew up together. I have to see if she's okay." 

"Alright. I'll even go with you, if you'd like." 

"I'd...love that, if it's not too much trouble," Jun smiled to herself. "I'll be waiting for you to pick me up, alright?" 

"Yeah, sure thing. See ya in a bit." With that Lei hung up, and Jun did the same. The girl then hopped off of her seat and scurried to the bathroom to shower and dress. 

It only took Jun about twenty minutes to freshen up, and she threw on a white sundress and a pair of sandals. It wasn't long after she fixed up her hair that she heard a knock on the door. She ran out of her bedroom with her purse in hand to the door. 

"Hey," Lei greeted brightly as the door opened. He smiled fondly at Jun as she stepped out of her apartment, closing the door behind her. "Sorry for the bad wake up call." 

"No, thank you," she sighed as they began to head down the hall to the elevator. "I would had found out eventually. Better to hear it from you." She smiled wearily as the two of them stopped at the metal mirrored doors. She pressed the down button. 

Lei tugged at the suspenders he was wearing with his khaki pants and white t-shirt as he waited. There was a bright, metallic "ding!", and the doors parted. The two stepped on. Lei closed the doors. 

"Bryan told me the FBI thinks it's connected with Heihachi Mishima," Lei said quietly as the elevator descended slowly. Jun blinked and turned attention to her partner. 

"Nina didn't have anything to do with them, as far as I know. I mean, aside from her little sister always hanging around Lee Chaolan..." the girl whispered nervously. 

"Not her," Lei shook his head. "That Hiro guy...he was a former employee for Mishima. He was let go after some squabble thirteen years ago... Something to do with an attempt on Mishima's life and the death of another former employee." The doors parted and revealed the lobby. The two detectives stepped out and headed toward the exit. Both were silent until they had left the building and were at Lei's rental car. 

Jun shook her head, "Former employee? You don't mean all those shootings here thirteen years ago, do you?" She waited as Lei unlocked the doors then got in the car as he did the same. 

Lei nodded as he shut his door, "Yeah probably, some guy named Andrew Wang that used to work for Heihachi in their California branch. Apparently, he was skimming a lot of money from the company, and Hiro helped him do it. He was living here at the time." He started the car, then turned to Jun and frowned. "He was going under another name, though. Something like Mao Chung--" 

"--Chang," Jun replied sadly as she hung her head. "My best friend, Liz, her dad was killed around that time...His name was Mao. That's also around the time when Nina lost her dad." The car pulled out and began to slowly maneuver around the other parked cars until it hit the street and rolled into morning traffic. Lei stepped gently on the gas and sped up. Jun then slumped back in her seat and rubbed her temples. "They never seemed like bad people..." 

"Hey, don't get too bent out of shape," Lei smiled slight as he drove. "I don't think your friend has anything to do with our case, aside from being an innocent bystander." 

"You don't understand though," Jun frowned. "That whole year was so weird, though. First, someone tried to kill Mr. Mishima, then Mr. Williams was shot and killed that next day. Then Mr. Chang was killed at his house like a week later. And nobody knew why then." 

"Well...Williams still doesn't fit completely into the picture. Aside from his kid nearly getting blown up last night..." The hospital slowly came into view as Lei drove closer to it. Jun was silent for the rest of the trip and kept her attention to the passenger side window and would sigh heavily occasionally. Lei frowned as he pulled into the parking lot. 

"You know," Lei began softly as he parked, "I wonder what Nina's father has to do with Heihachi Mishima..." He stopped the car completely and turned off the engine. 

"Nothing, I hope," Jun replied as she opened her door and got out. Lei sighed heavily and did the same and followed the girl as she marched through the hospital entrance. He only managed to catch up with her when the other detective had stopped at the front desk to ask where Nina's room was located. As he stepped up to Jun's side, Lei nudged her to get her attention. She turned, startled, then sighed with relief when she saw it was only Lei then nudged him back with a slight grin. 

"She's on the second floor," Jun informed the older man as they headed further into the hospital and toward the elevator lobby. Lei nodded as they entered the hall and headed to the nearest set of elevator doors. He pressed up, then glanced over at his partner and frowned slightly. 

"Hey, Kazama...," he began as they waited. "You're not getting too worried, are you?" 

Jun frowned, "Why would I?" 

Lei shrugged, "I know she's a friend, but remember why we're in Dreyfus." 

The doors parted in front of them; there was one other person on the elevator, a well dressed middle aged man in a long black trench. His light brown hair was streaked with grey and slicked back. He glanced over at the two, then adjusted the collar of the dark grey blazer he was wearing. 

Jun sighed heavily as the bell dinged and the metal doors parted. All three people stepped off and turned toward the patients' ward. She strolled ahead of Lei and down the hall. The man was still behind them and followed. 

The halls were quiet and empty. As the three made their way down to the patients' ward, the only sounds were of Lei's loafers and the dress shoes of the older man following the two detectives. It wasn't long before they reached their destination. Jun peeked her head into the room and saw Anna and Kazuya sitting and chatting with the blonde. Nina's hands where bandaged up, and there was a bandage on her forehead and several little cuts and scratches marred her skin. She glanced away from her sister to Jun, Lei, and the other man. Her eyes brightened and the smile she had already been wearing grew. 

"Jun! Emil!" she cried happily as Jun ran over and hugged her friend. Nina threw her arms around the other girl. "Oh my goodness! I haven't seen you in ages, love!" Jun pulled away to sit down and nodded, then glanced back at the man that had been following them, Emil. Nina smiled fondly at her fiancé and beckoned to him. The older man smiled slightly and walked pasted Lei, who chose to stay outside; the detective stepped outside and leaned against the wall outside the room, crossing his arms as he waited. At the mention of Jun's name, Kazuya glanced up. When he saw Jun, his face darkened, and he frowned then stood up. 

"I have to go," he said quietly; Jun turned her head at the young man and gazed dully at him as he leaned over and pecked Anna on the lips. As much he was trying ignore the detective, however, the nervousness he was emanating was very evident to both her and Anna. The younger Williams sister bit her bottom lip up at Kazuya and frowned. He smiled gently and added, "Call me." 

"Of course," she grinned slightly. Kazuya then nodded at Jun to finally acknowledge her, offered his seat to Emil, and headed out of the room; Lei lifted a brow as Kazuya hurried past him, then shrugged to himself. Back inside, Anna sighed lightly as she glanced over at the door then back at her sister and Jun, who were both dumbfounded. 

Nina lifted a brow, "Now, that he's gone, may I ask, exactly when did you and _him_ become an item?"

"Can we not talk about that?" Anna sighed, she glanced over at Jun, who raised both her brows at the girl nervously, then at Emil. "Now isn't a good time, with you being here and all..." 

"I agree," Jun added softly. 

"Alright," the blonde sighed. She then turned her attention back to Jun and grinned, "Now, you! What have you been doing all this time? Ever make it in New York?" 

The detective smiled slightly, "Kinda. Ended up not dancing though." 

"Aw, and you were so good at it!" Nina's grin grew, "Remember all those ballet classes that we skipped--oops, I mean took together?" 

"Yeah. You, me, and Liz," the other girl chuckled. "Those were crazy times..." 

"You and your bumming rides to class from Paul..." Nina laughed. "Speaking of which, he said he was going to drop by later. Have you called him yet?" 

Jun frowned slightly and looked down at her feet then back up at her friend, "No...not yet. I've only been in town for a few days." 

"I see...Oh, and where are my manners?" Nina smiled over at Emil. "Jun, this is my fiancé, Emil Ricter. Emil, this is one of my best friends, Jun Kazama." The older man extended a hand at the detective. Jun glanced down at his hand then shook it gingerly. 

"Pleasure to meet you," he said thoughtfully as he stood up and turned to Nina, "I can't stay. I just wanted to check up on you before I went to work." He leaned over and kissed the blonde on the forehead and smiled down at her. "I'll be back in the evening for sure." Nina nodded once at him and smiled. Then the man headed out of the room. 

Lei had walked down the hall to the water fountains by the elevators to get a drink. He lifted his head as he heard footsteps to see Emil coming towards him; the older man had his cell phone out was and dialing. He stopped walking as he put his phone to his ear and waiting. Lei turned his head back to the fountain to get a drink. 

"Yeah, Tracy, this is Emil," the older man started. He waited quietly then replied, "...No, she's only got a couple of scratches. He's going to be pissed when he gets back from Boston." Lei looked up again and blinked. "I told you it wasn't a good idea...." The older man began to walk towards the elevators again, slowly as he listened into his phone. "Look, I don't care if we got _him_. If he was that big of problem, Mishima would had taken care of him years ago--" Emil finally noticed Lei, who was peering intently at him. The older man's eyes narrowed, and he stared hard at the younger man. "Tracy, we'll talk later. Good-bye." Keeping his eyes on Lei, Emil pulled the phone away from his ear slowly and turned it off. He then marched up to the younger man. 

In response, Lei grinned and nodded at Emil as he began chattering quickly in Mandarin. The older man blinked as Lei continued to talk and gestured wildly him as if he didn't speak or understand English.

"Did you...understand anything I said?" Emil asked slowly as he placed his phone inside of a pocket in his coat. 

Lei smiled, shook his head, and responded in his native tongue, _"Of course. I understood every fucking word you said, asshole!"_ and then said in broken English and a fake accent, "I cannot make your words... Please say slower?" The older man shook his head and turned away from the younger man to press the down button for the elevators. Immediately, the bell rang. 

As the doors opened, Emil adjusted his coat and mumbled himself, "Damned foreigners..." then stepped on. Lei sneered and flipped off Emil to his back as the doors closed. The young detective then rolled his eyes and hurried back to Nina's room. 

He stopped in the doorway as he overheard Jun say, ". . .I'm so sorry, Nina." The girl then looked over at Anna, "Anna...I know these past few days must had been tough." 

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Anna murmured. "Besides, Mama had lived a great deal longer than the doctors thought she would. Especially after she decided to go off of the chemotherapy." The redhead smiled at Jun then glanced over at the door. Lei slid his hands in his pockets and leaned in the doorway, nodding once at the girl. 

Nina also noticed the young man standing in the doorway, "Oh, you're a friend of Jun's?" Jun turned her head then gasped. 

"Oh, no! Wulong, I'm sorry! We were supposed to go meet Bryan in a few minutes!" she exclaimed as she stood up and grabbed her purse. "Nina, I'll have to stop by the house and catch up with you sometime soon." 

The blonde smiled, "That would be nice." Jun leaned over and hugged Nina one last time. "And you know, it wouldn't hurt if you called sometimes," Nina laughed as Jun pulled away. The detective nodded and smiled back then turned back to Lei to hurry out the door. 

As they walked down the hall, Lei asked quietly, "That guy in the coat...did you catch his name at all?" 

"Um, yeah. Emil. He's engaged to Nina, I guess," Jun shrugged. The two stopped at the elevator doors; the doors parted on their own and two doctors stepped off. Lei and Jun walked past them and got on. 

"I see," Lei said thoughtfully. He was quiet for the rest the time they were on the elevator and as they walked through the lobby towards the exit. 

Jun walked ahead of him then stopped and turned around, "Hey, Wulong?" 

"Hm?" Lei replied, also stopping. He shoved his hands in his pockets again. 

"You saw that Asian guy leave, right?" 

"Yeah, why?" 

Jun shrugged, "That was Kazuya Mishima." 

Lei blinked at that statement, "Wait...why was he here?" 

"Eh, don't ask me," she sighed as she turned to start walking again. Only, she didn't walk and blinked as the glass doors in front of her opened as Paul and Michelle walked in. The female detective's face soften with both friendliness and remorse as she saw the blonde walk towards her, his head turned at his girlfriend as he talked in a low voice to her. He then looked forward and stopped walking, and his forehead wrinkled up in thought as he stared hard at Jun. His eyes then brightened as he finally recognized the girl. 

"Junie," he smiled as he marched up to her, Michelle following. The younger girl carefully eyed Jun then glanced over at Lei, who shrugged at her. Paul stopped about a foot away from Jun and gestured at her. "Well?" 

"Well what?" Jun asked as she smiled nervously. 

"Where's my hug?" The girl sighed with relief and hugged the biker. He was wearing a black t-shirt and a pair of black jeans that were covering his work boots that day, and his hair pulled back in a ponytail. He pulled away and smiled fondly at Jun, "It's been awhile." 

"Yeah," Jun managed a small grin, her eyes troubled. Paul nodded quietly, still smiling. 

He then glanced back at Michelle, who lifted a brow at him. He sighed and turned back to Jun, "We'll have to talk later, I guess." Jun nodded as Paul patted her on the shoulder once and smiled at her again, then he turned and gestured at Michelle to follow him to the elevators. As she did so, however, Michelle kept her gaze on Jun as she walked past her. 

As the couple rode up the elevators, Michelle asked quietly, "Who was that?" 

Paul looked forward and let out a heavy sigh, "A friend." 

The bell rang, and the doors parted. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

"What makes him think that I even _want_ to take a job there after I graduate?" Lee asked quietly as he smoked. He was sitting outside on concrete steps of the front porch with Kazuya, who was looking forward towards the seemingly endless blanket of grass outside of their home. 

"It's not a matter of what you want," the older boy replied softly, his voice almost hoarse. "You're going to have to work for him. End of story." Kazuya stood up and dusted off his blue jeans. Lee looked up at his brother, cigarette dangling from his lips. He was dressed like his brother, in blue jeans, a oversized white t-shirt, and barefoot. The younger boy then looked out towards the horizon, like Kazuya; though it was early afternoon, the sky was cloudy and getting darker. The sun's light had been softened and cooled by the thick clouds overhead, making the grass seem brighter green as it was contrasted on the steel colored sky. Occasional mumbles of thunder could be heard, and the air was scented with the oncoming rain. Lee shrugged and let out a sigh.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask," he began softly as he pulled his cigarette from his mouth; smoke blew from his nostrils. Kazuya looked down and dug his hands in his pockets. "Last night...I mean, how long had you've been seeing her?" Kazuya looked away at the skyline again and remained quiet. Lee felt a drop of water on his foot then noticed the few, random raindrops falling. He then turned his attention back to his brother, who let out a huff.

"Anna and I...there hasn't been anything going on between us," the older boy finally replied. The rain began to pick and steady into a little drizzle. Kazuya sighed as he watched the rain.

"No, Kaz, it's okay," Lee smashed his smoke into the concrete, stood up, and gave Kazuya a rather placid smile. "It's not my right to be angry." He frowned when Kazuya didn't reply at that, then shrugged and stepped over to the front door.

Before going inside, the younger Mishima added pleasantly, "It's nice...having a change in the weather finally."

"There's a storm on the way," Kazuya murmured in reply. 

"That's better than nothing at all." With that, Lee left his brother to himself, latching the door behind him. After he was inside, the younger man sighed heavily and leaned his back against the heavy oak door and slid down it, pulling his knees up to his chest.

He wasn't sure who he was more jealous of, Kazuya or Anna.

  


*****

  


The meeting with Bryan was brief, and Lei was thankful for that. The sudden rainy weather had made the detective antsy during the time he and Jun spent speaking with the younger man. 

He didn't mention Emil at all to Bryan, but only because he wasn't sure to make of what he heard and saw at the hospital that morning. That, and the feeling that the last thing Jun needed at the moment was more disappointment and heartbreak. It would had to wait until he was sure. 

As he and Jun walked out of the apartment complex that Bryan was staying at, Lei kept glancing over at her, sometimes almost telling her what he heard. But he stopped himself every time. When they did make it outside, Jun scurried over to Lei's car, her purse over her head, though it did little to keep her from getting wet. Lei followed slowly, stopping only to gaze at his partner as she stood waiting next to his car.

"Come on, Wulong!" she laughed. "The rain's only going to get worse, and I'm not getting any drier!" He blinked at Jun and for a moment was taken back by how she looked. The dress she was wearing was soaked through and clung to her body in all the right places, translucent. Her cheeks were ruddy from running and her laughter. And at that one moment, Lei thought Jun was the most beautiful woman in the world, but he shook his head violently, ashamed. 

Jun frowned and slowly dropped her hands from her head, "Lei?" He managed a slight grin and trotted over to her, keys in hand. 

"I'm sorry, I was thinking about something," he said as he unlocked the driver's side door, then pressed the lock on the inside to let Jun in. She shrugged and smiled, opening the door and slid in. 

"Kazuya didn't get to you, did he?" she asked as Lei got in and slammed his car door in one motion.

He shook his head and started the car, "Not at all." 

"You sure?"

Lei nodded as he pulled out of his parking space carefully, then made his way through the parking lot until he hit the afternoon traffic, which was surprisingly light that day. As he drove, Lei was still silent, which bothered Jun. She was used to Lei making conversation, even during the worst of times; it was his nature. However, she chose not to say anything to him as he drove. And soon, her apartment building came into view.

As Lei pulled up to the front entrance and parked, Jun turned and smiled at him, "Hey, thanks."

"For what?" he asked, turning his head to fully face his partner.

"For everything." Jun opened her door and stepped one leg out. "I know, I really haven't been myself lately. Wait, scratch that, I've just been a bitch."

"Nah, you have your reasons," Lei shrugged, managing to even smile and chuckle. "As soon as we're done here, things'll go back to normal, right?"

"Yeah." She smiled again and this time got completely out of the car. After she slammed the door shut, she bent over and waved at Lei through the passenger's side window. He smiled back and waved, then watched the girl enter the building. As the door closed behind Jun, Lei frowned to himself then gently stepped on the gas pedal to head out. He had to speak to Bryan alone.

  


*****

  


The door to the den was cracked, and a sliver of warm light sliced through the darkness of the hall. Lee crept cautiously over to the door and peeked in. There sat his brother, quietly filling out papers and reading, headphones on. Again, probably listening to Mozart or Bach, or some other composer of the likes. Kazuya hadn't went into the office that day at all, but chose to work at home and take calls there. He usually did that when Heihachi left him to run everything.

Lee rolled his eyes and pulled away from the door. He had planned on announcing that he was going out for the evening, but seeing his brother actually still working made the younger boy decide against it rather quickly. He sighed and strolled back into the living room hastily. 

In his hand, he had a black wool stocking cap. He usually wore it when he went out, since it covered his hair easily and was still fashionable. That was something he found worked to his advantage since he was a teenager. He tugged the cap over his head as went through the living room and kitchen to the garage. 

The clothes he was wearing were typical of the college students in Dreyfus, a black and orange hockey jersey, baggy cargo khakis, and steel toed boots. At the same time, it was the complete opposite of what Lee wore during the day. Tonight, though, and most nights when he went out on his own, he chose to blend in rather than stick out. He stepped out into the garage and pressed the opener button by the house entrance. Lee then pulled his keys out his pocket and closed the door behind him.

It was still raining, and the sky lit up randomly as lightning flashed up in the clouds, making delicate glowing lace above. Lee took a few seconds to watch the light show outside before getting into his beat-up silver hatchback and pulling out of the garage, though he had been leery about taking the car out for the evening. The engine had a tendency to die out on him, and often at the worst times, such as during the several times that Lee had tried to leave Dreyfus after getting the car. And the last time he left, that had happened to him again. That, however, was usually his excuse to justify going back to the manor.

The little car sped down the road, splashing up water as it flew over the dents and pot holes. The rain began to speed up and thicken as Lee finally made it into the city limits, and the streets were lit up with bright white and rosy lights reflecting the street lights and the emergency lights. The young man smiled to himself as he soaked in the scene and drove. He hadn't really been out in awhile, and now that it was summer, he had a bit more freedom. At least until he started working for his father. Lee frowned to himself as that thought came to him.

Already, this week had turned out to be something stressful. He didn't wanted to work at Mishima at all and had actually planned on finally leaving, without having any obligations to anyone when he graduated. Just the idea that his father just expected him to stay was irritating. Then there was Anna and Kazuya.

Lee wasn't sure if could stay around his brother for very long without wanting to hit him, throttle him, or something else much worse. He had said it wasn't his right to be upset, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to be. 

"I don't care if I broke up with her," Lee mumbled to himself as he stopped at a red light. "She was still my girlfriend. You just don't _do_ that to your brother!" The light turned green, and Lee stepped on the gas. The streets were empty, as he expected, and Lee rode past the Louisville Bar, which was still closed up from the previous night. He sighed to himself as the yellow tape and lights whizzed by. As much as he hated it, Lee couldn't help but feel that that explosion had something to do with his father's sudden trip to Boston. He shrugged that off temporarily, however, as he pulled up into the parking lot of a coffee house, in which was nearly full. Lee groaned, remembering that today had been the last day of finals at the university. He frowned as he finally found a spot to park and pulled in to park. After shutting off his car, the young man got out of his car and hurried over to the entrance. 

When he entered, Lee chuckled as he looked around. Every table and booth was taken. He actually did know most of the people there, but none that were close friends. Lee finally shrugged, turned around, and left. The rain had only become worst since he had went inside for that brief time, and he dashed to his car. His already damp wool hat was soaked through by the time he had made it back to his hatchback. Quickly, he jump into his ride, pulled out, and just as fast, maneuvered his way through the maze of cars until he was back on the street.

Disappointment was an understatement for what he was feeling at the moment as he coasted down the rain slicked road. He certainly didn't want to return home so soon, and at the same time, he didn't want to be some place that crowded. However, he know that most of the places he liked to go would be filled, especially with that bar closed indefinitely. 

Something flashed in front of Lee's windshield, and in response, the grey haired boy slammed on his brakes. He gripped his steering wheel, as his breathing became shallow. He then blinked at who was standing in his headlights.

It was Michelle, with a dark green rain slicker on, hood covering her head. She standing frightened with her hand up to her neck and was literally inches away from the front fender of Lee's car. The young man put his car in park and jump out.

"Hey, are you alright?" he ask as he jogged over to the girl, who was still staring at the vehicle in shock. She turned her head slowly at Lee, her eyes wide with fear. "Miss?"

"I...I'm fine," she stammered as she shakily pulled her hand away from her neck to her side. 

He placed his hands on her shoulders, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," She glanced back over at the headlights of the grey car then back on the young man standing next to her. 

"Do you need a ride?" he asked as he pulled her aside.

"It's okay...don't bother."

Lee smiled sheepishly, "It's the least I could do." He led her over to the passenger's side door and opened it for her, gesturing for her to get it. The girl slid in and shut the door, then watched Lee as he went around the front of the car to his door and got in as well.

She was silent as Lee put the car back into drive and slowly sped back up down the road.

"Where do you live?" he asked quietly.

"On Gregory Parkway." Michelle pulled off the hood to her slicker; over her hair, she wore a blue bandana that matched her pants, which were a pair of flared dark jeans with navy parsley cloth extended out to make the bells of the legs.

Lee blinked and turned his head to the girl, "That's a ways out. And you were going to walk?"

Michelle shrugged and whispered, "I had no choice." The younger Mishima frowned and sighed before turning his attention back to his driving.

"Anyway, I'm Lee."

"Michelle."

They were both silent until they reached the first stop light. Lee pulled his damp cap off and threw it in the back seat. Michelle then looked over and gasped lightly at the silver hair that fell into her ride's face. The young man brushed what he could of his parted bangs out of his eyes.

He spoke again, "You just broke up with someone, huh?" He looked over at her as he waited for the light to change. The girl was still staring wide eyed at him, and she blushed and looked down as soon as his eyes met hers.

"Yeah," she murmured in reply, still looking down. 

"I'm sorry." He smiled sadly and turned his attention back to the light, which had turned green already. He stepped gently on the gas. There was silence again as they made their way through town and finally to a residential area. 

"I've seen you on campus before," Michelle said quietly as they drove through the area full of fairly expensive homes. Her gaze was fixated on the windshield again as she watched the wipers moved back and forth lazily.

Lee chuckled, "I'm kinda hard to miss."

"You're a Mishima."

"Does that bother you?"

"I..don't know." The car turned a corner onto Michelle's street. Lee's driving slowed considerably.

"Which house is yours?" he asked softly.

"The grey one at the end of the cul-de-sac." He nodded and sped up a bit, then slowed again as he pulled up into the driveway.

He put the car and park, then turned to Michelle, "You don't want to go home, do you?" She shook her head once, still refusing to look at the young man. "Where do you want to go?" 

"Anywhere."

Lee sighed and leaned back in his seat, "Okay." The car shifted out of park into reverse, and the young man pulled out carefully.

  


*****

  


Lei knocked on the door to Bryan's apartment one last time before sighing heavily and turning his back to walk away. The door opened, however, and the young agent stuck his head out the door.

"Lei?" he called to the other man, who was nearly down the other end of the hall at the staircase leading downward. The older man turned his head at the mention of his name and sighed with relief as he saw Bryan, who was now standing outside his door.

"Great, you're home," Lei grinned as he jogged back up to the other man. 

Bryan nodded, "Sorry I didn't hear you knocking earlier. I was in the back." He then crossed his arms and leaned into the doorway. "Anyway, what brings you back here?"

The older man nodded as he stopped in front of the other man, "I need to ask a favor of you. I didn't want to mention it in front of Jun..." He smiled wearily at Bryan and shoved his hands in his pants pockets, "Her friend that was in the hospital might actually be involved in that little gang squeamish we're supposed to be investigating."

"Nina Williams, you mean," Bryan nodded. "I think you're right, actually." The younger man gently closed the door behind him. "I did a background check on her as soon as I heard about the bombing. She's clean, for now. It's her father that had some questionable history."

Lei hung his head, "Just like Jun had said..."

"Hey, we'll figure it out eventually," the blonde shrugged, "but for now, it's only speculation."

"There's something else. I guess there's a man that she's seeing. I didn't catch his last name at all, though. It was Emil, I think." Lei sighed heavily, "I kinda overheard him talking to someone over the phone. He mentioned the name Mishima."

Bryan lifted a brow, "That's not much to go off of."

"I know," Lei sighed and shook his head, "But could you look into it anyway?"

"Sure thing," Bryan grinned. "Every little bit helps, right?"

The older man chuckled, "Yep."

Bryan stretched and placed a hand on his doorknob, "So, what are you going to do now?"

Lei shrugged as he walked off. He called over his shoulder, "I don't know. I'll think of something." Bryan blinked at that answer then shook his head, laughing, as he opened the door to his apartment.


	12. Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

It had finally stopped raining that night, long after all the bars and such had closed. The clouds were parting ever so slowly, revealing the moon that was starting to fade with the oncoming sunrise, which was still a few hours away. However, the early morning air was already becoming warm and sticky. Michelle pulled her bandana from her hair an shoved it into her pants pocket as she walked next to Lee down the highway's shoulders towards the Dreyfus city limits.

"I'm sorry about your car," she said to him.

Lee shrugged, "It's not your fault. It dies on me all the time. I just wish it hadn't decided to go out on me in buttfucking Egypt..." The silver haired youth smiled as they walked. "At least it stopped raining."

"Yeah," Michelle chuckled as she looked out ahead to the distant horizon of tiny lights. She slid her hands in her back pockets. Her slicker, she had left in Lee's car, since it was too humid to wear it now, and the shirt she was wearing was a tight, cut-off grey t-shirt that had "Army" printed across it. Lee had also left his jersey in the car, and was sporting a white t-shirt instead now.

"So..." Lee began, "Was your breakup that bad?"

"Hm?" Michelle turned her head towards Lee. "Oh, that. No, not really."

Lee frowned, "You were really upset though."

"I guess," she shrugged as she looked ahead again. "I've been through worse." Lee nodded once and sighed.

"Lee?"

"Yeah?" 

Michelle stopped walking and turned to her companion again, "Does it bother you that people just..."

"That they talk," Lee shrugged as he stopped as well. "It does. But...you get used to it." The young man sighed heavily, "I can't really blame them from disliking my father."

"But how they talk about you and your brother," Michelle responded quietly. "It's not fair."

Lee shook his head, "You're right about that. But what I can I do?" He smiled slightly, "I guess it's just the way things are always going to be." 

He began walking again, though at a slower pace. Though his face was peaceful, he felt a gnawing in the bottom of his stomach at the moment. Not even Anna had once expressed any sympathy for all that he and Kazuya had endured growing up. All the sneers and the whispers behind their backs the boys endured constantly, all because of things that were claimed of their father. Claims that couldn't be proved, yet were treated like gospel. Gospel that, at times, Lee found himself believing, as much as he didn't want to.

"Did I say something wrong?" Michelle asked as she jogged up next to him.

"No," the younger Mishima replied softly. "Michelle...thanks."

She paused again and blinked, "How come? I should be thanking you!" Lee stopped and slowly turned around. The girl cast her eyes downward when they met his.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"Don't worry about it." Michelle nodded once and scurried up to his side, and the two began to walking again, this time holding hands.

It was nearly sunrise by the time they returned to Michelle's home, and almost regrettably, two walked together up her driveway and to the porch. She sat down on the porch steps, facing the rosying sky. Lee sat down next to her.

"You know," she said softly, her eyes fixated on where the sun was rising, "when I was a little girl, I remember sitting here and seeing my father shot and killed." Lee blinked, stunned, and his stomach began gnawing on itself once more. He then glanced down at his feet, unsure how to reply.

They were both silent for several minutes, until Lee replied sadly, "It was him, wasn't it?" His gaze was still on his feet as he said this, and suddenly he was afraid to look at Michelle in the eye ever again. His hands balled up into tight fists at his sides and were trembling from nervousness and rage. Only when he felt her hand on his shoulder did he look up.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Oh, god, I'm so sorry..."

Michelle shook her head, "Don't apologize. You had nothing to do with that." She sighed lightly and looked ahead. By now, the sun had begun to peek over the horizon, and its brilliant red rays were reflecting off the windows the homes lined up on either side of Michelle's house. "You shouldn't have to apologize for something you didn't do."

"Someone has to. And I know he won't," Lee responded as he fully turned to face her. Michelle shook her head at him then glanced back at her reflection in the storm door covering the front door. She frowned at herself then turned her attention back to Lee.

"It's strange," she began again. "I hadn't thought about that in years."

Lee shook his head, "I didn't mean to bring up any bad memories."

"I'm not upset," she sighed, "I'm just....remembering again." Michelle brought her legs up to her chest and hugged them. She smiled and added faintly, "I haven't watched a sunrise since then." Lee glanced down at his feet again, then outward to the fiery light ahead. 

He had seen plenty of sunrises, sitting alone in the dojo. Yet this one reminded him of the morning of his mother's burial. She had died a month after the day that Kazuya had come home wounded. The awkwardness of seeing his father sitting on the dodo's floor and staring silently out of the wall of windows, was there now as he sat with Michelle. Heihachi's face had been stony, as always, yet Lee could feel the grief the man was suffering from as the boy sat down next to him and had hugged his father. Heihachi let out a heavy sigh and wrapped his arms around the boy and stroked his son's head, which was now covered by grey hair. That had been the only time that Heihachi had been affectionate that Lee could recalled clearly.

Lee sighed heavily and wrapped an arm around Michelle's shoulders. With her eyes still forward, she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. The front door opened, and the two pulled apart quickly and looked back, startled.

"Ooooo, Michelle!" Gabby sang as she stepped out of the house, "You're in so much trouble!" The storm door behind the younger Chang sister squeaked and snapped shut. "Mom's pissed you didn't come home yesterday, and she's inside waiting."

Michelle cringed, "You're kidding right?" Gabby shook her head in response. The older girl stood up and sighed. "You think she'd let my friend use the phone?"

"Don't worry about it," Lee shrugged as he stood up as well. "No need to get yourself into more trouble."

"Are you sure? I mean, your car." He nodded once and smiled faintly. "Then...I guess this is goodbye." Michelle extended a hand, but instead Lee leaned over and kissed her gently once on the forehead. 

As he pulled away slowly, he whispered, "I'd like to see you again." She blinked once then nodded.

"I'd...like that too." He smiled and stroked her cheek once before turning and walking away. Michelle watched him as he trotted off down the street.

Gabby crossed her arms and lifted a brow, "He's cute. Really cute."

"Yeah," Michelle chuckled, "and really nice." The girl turned to face her younger sister and sighed. "I guess I should go in and see how long I'm grounded..."

"Eh, I bet Grampa convinces Mom not to do anything. It's summer, you're in college, and man, that guy was cute. Should had let him come in."

  


*****

  


It took him about half an hour, but Lee finally made back to that coffee house, which was the only place opened at the time that morning. He trotted over to the pay phone near the back of the nearly empty cafe, change in hand to make his call. There was only a few other people in there: a woman and her toddler son, a couple of construction workers, and a man in a business suit that looked somewhat out of place. However, Lee thought little of it as he picked up the receiver and dropped his money in the slot. 

As the other end rang, he hummed to himself that lullaby his mother used to sing to Kazuya and him, feeling lighthearted for the first time in a long while. The young man glanced out towards the room filled with empty chairs and tables then noticed the well dressed man was looking directly at him. A chill ran up Lee's spine as he made eye contact with the man, yet he kept his eyes on the older man until the other line picked up.

"Hello?" Kazuya yawned.

"Hey, it's me," Lee managed in an impossibly cheery voice. "I had car trouble again."

Kazuya began laughing, "Fuck, Chaolan, I didn't even know you were gone!" 

"You looked _so_ happy doing Dad's books yesterday that I didn't want to bother you."

"Um hm, right," the older boy snickered. "So, where are you? Halfway to Arizona?"

Lee chuckled, "I'm in town, shitface. I was just out riding, and the car crapped out on me." He glanced out again as he heard the cafe door jingle and noticed that the man was gone, and a sense of relief came over him. "Anyway, you know where that coffee house is? The one by Louisville?"

"Oh, yeah. So, you're there?"

"Yeah," the younger boy replied. "But my car's about seven miles out on I-70."

There was a pause, then Kazuya went into a full fit of laughter. Though irritated at first from his brother's response, Lee soon found himself smirking and trying to hold back laughter as well.

"I take it you did some walking last night," Kazuya choked finally.

"Um, yeah," Lee grinned.

"Okay, okay. I'll be there in about an hour."

"Thanks, Kaz. I appreciate it," Lee sang before hanging up. Then made his way back to the front, and as he did so, he dug through his pocket for a five so he could order a drink as he waited.

He stayed near the front and drank his coffee slowly, glancing over at the glass doors to watch for his brother. Gradually, more people came in as the morning progressed, but still no sign of his brother. Eventually, Lee finished his drink, despite how slowly he had sipped it as he watched the door, and so, he got up to throw away his paper cup and exited the building. 

It wasn't as humid as it had been before sunrise, Lee noted as he sat outside the cafe and lit a cigarette as he watched cars pull in and out, people coming and going in to the small building and such until the early morning rush slowed to a crawl. It became calm and quiet again, aside from the sounds of morning traffic whizzing by Lee as he waited. For a moment, he managed to forget about everything that had been bothering him, though the thought of calling for a tow truck for his hatchback lingered, but only so that he get Michelle's coat out from there and take it to her. He smiled to himself, since that would give him a legit reason to see her again, even if just once.

His train of though was broken by the sounds of arguing, and he dropped his cigarette by accident. The young man glanced around and saw no one, but he quickly realized that the bickering had to by the dumpster resting on the side the building. He stood up and stretched, and though his judgement told him better, Lee crept over to the to the side of the building to see what was going on.

Emil was standing above the man from the cafe, twisting the other man's arm, thus having forced him on his knees, "I told you, Tracy, that I would take care of that hitman."

"You had plenty of time to off her," the other man gasped; his face tightened and contorted with pain as Emil twisted his arm further. From afar, Lee could tell that Emil had broken Tracy's arm and now probably dislocated it from the shoulder, and the young man pressed himself against the wall facing away from the alleyway the two men were in to keep himself hidden. Lee strangely wasn't surprised by who he saw. Much like Anna, he had never trusted Emil to be an honest man, but he had never imagined Nina's boyfriend to be violent.

"You kill me here," Tracy added breathlessly, "you'll get caught." Emil chuckled then dropped the other man's arm. A shaky sigh of relief came over Tracy as he slumped back, his arm dangling limply at his side at an odd angle. The man towering above him reached into his trench coat and produced a lighter and a pack of cigarettes. Emil popped a stick in his mouth and lit it in one swift, graceful movement, then placed the items back in his coat pocket. He then grinned down smugly at Tracy and smoked in silence.

"You have less than a week to clean up your mess," Emil finally replied as he pulled the cigarette from his lips. A thin cloud of smoke escaped his lips.

"My mess?" the other man managed to laugh, though in much pain obviously. "You're the one who fucked up with Nina." He struggled to stand up, leaning himself against the wall of the next building. "And regardless, I can guarantee that Heihachi knows already." Tracy chuckled as he slowly began to back away, then turned completely as he walked stiffly, taking care not to move his arm. He lifted his head and frowned as he noticed Lee behind Emil then continued in the other direction.

Emil said nothing as he watched the other man disappear. His forehead wrinkled, and he turned his head and blinked as he saw the grey haired Mishima approaching him cautiously. The older man then smiled as he took one last drag from his not even half done smoke, flicked it to the ground, and smashed it with his foot.

"You're the absolute last person I'd thought I'd see today," Emil chuckled. "How are you, Lee Chaolan?" He gave a friendly gesture at the younger man then extended his hand for Lee to shake. The younger Mishima just stared down it, his face unreadable.

"I ran into your brother yesterday," Emil added thoughtfully. "He was with that Anna. She gets around."

Lee shook his head and ignored Emil's last comment, "How long have you been working for my father?" Emil blinked again then laughed, shaking his head.

"So you overheard," the older man sighed cheerfully. "Lee, I tell you. This world has a funny way of working." He reached in his coat, this time producing a Beretta. He cocked it once then aimed it at Lee's chest. "The sad thing is, no one would miss you."

"And your point is?" Lee glanced down at the gun aimed at his heart, unfazed.

Emil chuckled, "You Mishimas, always so smug. You all think you're invincible. I love it." The older man placed his free hand in his pants pocket. "And yet, everyone in this fucking town would celebrate the day that you all just disappeared. Including me."

"So...you're going to kill your boss's son?" Lee sighed, rolling his eyes. "You know, that's genius, Emil. I'm going to have to agree with your gimp friend that ran off on this one. You're the one that's screwing up." He began walking cautiously towards Emil again, keep eye contact with the other man. 

"You're too bold, you know that?" Emil mumbled; he sniff once and twisted his neck, popping it. 

"No, I'm not," Lee replied. "You're just rightfully paranoid." With that, Lee's arm lashed out and the base of his palm slammed down solidly on Emil's wrist, causing the older man's fingers to fly open and drop his weapon. Emil cursed as he grabbed his hand, however before he could do anything else, Lee uppercutted the older man in the stomach, then kneed him in the face as the other man doubled over in pain. Lee swooped over and grabbed the discarded weapon and straightened back up. As Emil managed to sit up, he watched as Lee released the lock on the clip, and bullets split out from the from the gun, followed by a sounds of plastic clicking on concrete as the clip itself slipped out from the handle and bounced on the ground. Emil growled then stood up. He brought a hand up to his now broken nose and felt blood trickling from it. Lee shrugged then flung the empty weapon at his adversary's feet. 

Emil was silent for a moment as he stared down numbly at the mess of plastic and metal before him. He then began chuckling before suddenly charging at the youngest Mishima, fist extended as he screamed. Lee easily dodged every clumsy punch that Emil threw in rage, just moving and stepping aside. Emil overshot the young man with one phantom punch, and Lee effortlessly twisted his lower body around in an impossibly fast roundhouse that hit Emil square in the back. The older man stumbled forward from the force, nearly falling to his knees. He grabbed his lower back in pain, then spun around to retaliate. However, he didn't when he saw Lee's state.

The younger man had never taken stance. He was still standing relaxed and hadn't even broken a sweat from his fighting. His hands rested at his sides, and he shook his head at Emil out of pity. The older man's fists unballed themselves slowly, and his breathing slowed, though still was staggering. He growled again, his teeth clutched tightly.

"You arrogant little shit," he gasped, finally catching his breath. "Your family's going to get theirs! You can't deny that!"

"I hope you're right," Lee responded sincerely. He then looked pasted the older man, smiled shyly, and gave then gave a friendly little wave. Confused, Emil blinked then turned around, only to be punched in the face. However, this time, he was knocked out cold and tumbled over face first onto the ground.

"You said an hour," Lee sighed as he marched over to his brother, who was rubbing the knuckles of his bandaged hand. Kazuya was dressed for work, wearing a black pin stripe suit, a deep royal blue dress shirt, and a black tie. Like Emil, he wore a black leather trench coat over his clothes.

The older boy shrugged, "Sorry, I got caught in traffic." He stepped over Emil to meet his brother halfway. He then glanced behind at the gun and its contents and blinked. "You're okay, right?"

Lee nodded, "Yeah, never been better, honestly." Kazuya blinked again then began laughing as he patted his brother on the shoulder. The two Mishima brothers then left the still unconscious Emil and strolled out of the alleyway as if nothing had happened.


	13. Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Anna scurried over to the phone as it rang that afternoon, interrupting the lunch that she and her sister were sharing at the moment. Nina, who was eating slowly the best she could with her bandaged hands, watched her sister intently as she spoke. 

"Hello?" Anna sang as she cradled the phone between her shoulder and ear. She adjusted the red scarf that she was wearing as a headband while she waited for a response.

"Hey, it's Kazuya."

"Oh, hi!" her face lit up, from both enlightenment and relief; Kazuya's voice had been pleasant sounding for once.

"I wanted to let you know that I'm ready for you to work."

"Really? So soon?" She sat down in a barstool and made herself comfortable. "I wasn't expecting you to call about that for a few more days."

"Well, I actually just need to discuss a few things with you before hand, but..." his voice trailed, and he went silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing, "Are you free at all tonight?"

Anna glanced over her shoulder at her sister, "Yes, I should be."

"Great, I'll pick you up around nine."

"Should I dress up?" she asked playfully.

Kazuya chuckled, "Not unless you really want to." 

Anna smiled to herself, "Alright, I'll see you then."

"Later." 

The younger Williams sister hopped off the barstool and went back to the dining room table where Nina sat waiting.

Nina lifted a brow and mumbled, "You're glowing."

"Am I?" Anna responded cheerfully as she sat down.

"You're never this bloody cheery," the blonde responded as she carefully lifted her cup with both hands and took a sip of her tea. "It's damned annoying."

"I'm sorry," the younger girl replied. "I'm not trying to be irritating."

"I know," Nina sighed as she set down her cup slowly. "I guess it's just me..." She sighed heavily again and looked down her cup at her reflection. The frown she was wearing deepened as she noticed the bandage on her head.

Anna shook her head, "Be happy. You're alive and you're getting married soon." The younger girl smiled and stood up, "And you said so yourself, I should be happy for you, and...I am." Nina looked back up at her sister, still frowning, and watched her as she trotted out of the room.

She hadn't heard from Emil in a couple of days and was starting to worry, even having left a few messages on his answering machine the previous night. Now, it was late afternoon, and still no word from him at all. As she sipped her tea in silence, Nina found that her worry was starting to diminish the more she thought about her sister.

Anna's sudden new relationship with that other Mishima bothered Nina more and more each moment whenever the thought crossed her mind. It wasn't like her younger sister at all to date men that much older than her even if it was only five or six years, and it was definitely not like Anna for her to date an ex's sibling. Until she had seen the redhead rushing into her hospital room with Kazuya at her side the night Takahashi died, Nina had always figured that Anna was still in love with Lee. 

The younger girl had never quite recovered from the sudden breakup. Anna had always had a sad demeanor to her face, with her large expressive blue eyes and her constant nervous habit of biting her bottom lip. However, as Nina recalled, ever since Anna had returned late from the last outing her and Lee had ever went on, she was indifferent and soon after dropped out of school, claiming it was so she could better take care of their mother. From that day on, Nina had always wondered exactly what Lee had said and done to her sister, yet it never bothered her as much as seeing Anna with Kazuya together.

The blonde glanced over at the phone in the kitchen, hoping that it would ring, granted that Emil's lunch break would had ended a couple of hours ago, but she took another drink of her tea and waited.

  


*****

  


Bryan rang the doorbell again as Lei kept glancing behind himself, antsy. They stood on the porch of a large home, located several minutes outside of Dreyfus, and the men were both dressed similarly to each other, tailored dark suits and trench coats. 

"He might be at work," Lei shrugged; the detective glanced behind at his car in the driveway. Bryan shook his head.

"No, he's not. I called to check. This guy hasn't been to his office in three days. Also, no records of him buying airline or bus tickets in the past year, so he has to be here." The fed rang the doorbell again then pulled back to cross his arms. From the back, the two men could hear a large dog barking at them from behind the white picket fence that jetted out from the sides of the house over and surrounded the backyard.

"I don't think I could live in a place this secluded," Lei mused weakly as he glanced back again; there were no houses near the home they were standing in front of, and even in the distance all that could be seen were grass and power lines lining either side of the highway. Bryan chuckled once and nodded in agreement, and the two waited a bit longer. The dog stopped barking.

Lei sighed to himself and reached over to pull open the storm door, which was unlocked. He held it open and grabbed the knob to the front door behind. Bryan lifted a brow and let out a huff.

"Never hurts to try," the older man shrugged as he turned the knob. The younger man began chuckling again but stopped when the door unlatched and creaked opened slowly as Lei cautiously pushed the door in. The detective let go of the knob nervously and turned back around to look at Bryan. He shrugged and gestured to Lei to go ahead inside.

Both men carefully stepped into the home, which was decorated neatly and very clean. Everything inside was white: the walls, the thick carpeting, and the tilework in the kitchen that faced the living room. On the walls, there were several school photos of children, two girls and a boy. All three of those children were blonde. In the corner of the living room, a black baby grand piano was sitting, its top closed and covered with a white doily and picture frames set on top of it. 

It was eerily silent, with only the sounds of songbirds outside. The dog that had been barking frantically at the two men was still quiet, and Lei could see the huge dog through the glass backdoor in the kitchen. It was a black Akita that sat rigidly at the door, its long, curled tail wagging as it watched Bryan and Lei wander slowly through the house. Next to the dog, its bowls of food and water were empty, aside from dirty rain water from a couple days ago. The detective noted that, meaning that the dog hadn't been fed since then. He paused to shake his head sadly at the hungry dog. Bryan walked ahead of Lei and past the piano into a darkened hallway.

"Hello? Mr. Ricter?" the blonde called down the hallway. "We didn't mean to intrude, but the door was unlocked." He glanced back at Lei, who walked up to join the younger man. "Hello?" He stopped speaking and strained his ears to listen for a reply. He frowned when he did finally hear something, though not a voice. From the end of the hall, coming from behind a cracked door, the two men could hear music playing from a radio; Lei recognized the tune as an Elvis Presley ballad. 

"Mr. Ricter?" Bryan called again as he made his way down the hall, this time hastily towards the opened door. Lei followed and the two men stopped short of the door. Lei pulled out his gun, and Bryan did the same, and they stood on either side, listening carefully.

__

"Wise men say, only fools rush in. . ." The song faded in and out with static, as the two men waited.

"Mr. Ricter," Bryan began again as he cocked his gun carefully, "We need to ask you a few questions regarding the recent attempt on Nina Williams' life." He waited and listened again.

__

". . .Take my whole life too. . ."

Lei sighed and called to the door, "Mr. Ricter, it's very important that you talk to us." He also readied his gun. He looked over at the blonde, nodded once, then in one sudden movement kicked opened the cracked door. Bryan jumped in after Lei, who stood standing with his gun aimed. The older man quickly relaxed and shook his head as he put his gun back into his holster inside of his coat.

"Jesus!" Bryan winced and looked away at what he saw and covered his nose and mouth with his free hand.

It was Emil, lying nude on his bed, his body blue and bloated from being left there for days. The dead man's eyes were open and stared up at the ceiling, and his mouth was gaped opened. The sheets of the bed were covered in dried blood, which Lei immediately saw had come from the slash in the neck of the corpse. Like Bryan, he also covered his mouth and nose as the smell of decay finally hit him.

Bryan hastily walked out of the room and back into the living room. He closed his eyes took a deep breath, trying his best to recompose himself. His hands were trembling, and when he looked down at them, the fed noticed that he still was holding his gun, then nervously placed the weapon back into its holster. Another deep breath, and then he glanced over towards the hallway as Lei emerged, his face tired.

"I take it you've never seen a dead body?" the older man inquired softly as he joined Bryan in the living room.

The blonde shook his head, "I've...only been with the Bureau for a few months. This...this is my first case." Lei nodded sympathetically, then glance back at the hallway.

"Well, that was him. The man from the hospital."

"I...figured that much after seeing that," Bryan managed to grin weakly. He felt his stomach still churning and did his best to keep from vomiting. "Christ..." He looked over at the backdoor. The dog was still waiting and was whimpering at the two men, who were now dead silent.

__

". . .Some things were meant to be. . ." the radio whispered before fizzing into static entirely.

  


*****

  


"You're always so cryptic," Anna said quietly to Kazuya as she stroked his cheek. Her bare legs were wrapped around his waist as she sat on his lap facing him. They were in the den and in Heihachi's leather swivel chair, both nude after just making love that evening. He chuckled quietly in response, his eyes closed as he leaned over and kissed her once on the neck. "I don't understand exactly what you want me to do," she murmured as she closed her eyes when his lips brushed against her skin. "And I refuse to believe you're paying me for sex."

"I'm not paying for that," he laughed as he opened his eyes. He grinned up at the younger girl. "I'm asking you to lie for me." 

"Alright?" She pulled away a bit to better eye Kazuya, who still smiled up fondly at her. "So, you don't want to be protected from Nina at all, but you want me to lie?"

"Exactly."

The younger woman let out an angry huff and pulled away completely, "Figures. I might as well be your whore."

"It's not like that." Kazuya sat up and wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her back towards him. "Listen, this is important." He then placed a hand on her cheek as he looked into her eyes sincerely; his smile was gone for the moment. "My father comes back from Boston tomorrow night, and I'm...going to do something drastic. I need you to lie and say I was with you all night, if anyone asks. We'll come up with a story for both of us to follow after I finish up what I have to do."

Anna was silent for a moment, her eyes now worried. 

"Kazuya..." she began softly. "Tell me you're not..." He dropped his head and nodded solemnly in response then leaned in to kiss her on the nape with his eyes still cast downward. "At least let me help."

"I don't want you involved like that. At least not yet." He looked up at Anna and continued to stroke her cheek. "Your sister may still go after me or Chaolan after Heihachi's gone." He looked down again; his hand moved slowly from her cheek to her shoulder. "If you decide that you don't want to..."

"No, I'll do it," she whispered sadly. "And what about Lee? Have you told him yet?"

"No, and I don't plan to. This is like the last thing he needs right now."

From outside the den door, Lee sat quietly, his legs crossed indian-style and his back leaning against the wall facing away from the door. He let out a frustrated sigh and rolled his eyes as he continued to listen to his brother and Anna speak to each other.

"He loves you, though. And...I think he deserves be told something. Anything."

"And I love him too. More than anything, Anna. He's all I have. I can't risk it."

Lee chuckled to himself, "Kaz, you're so full of shit." He stood up, stretched, and crept away from the cracked door. When he was at the end of the hallway, the silver haired boy glanced over his shoulder at the den door and sneered.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Lei shoved his hands in his pockets and watched Bryan drive off that night, then entered his apartment building and went up the stairs numbly to his floor. Even after going out for drinks with Bryan, the detective still felt horrible, and like Bryan, he was even beginning to feel ill, if only because he didn't know what or even how he was going to tell Jun in the morning.

They had had to wait with the body for several hours until the coroner showed up, a mousy indifferent man that smugly took his time inspecting the body as the two men waited to be dismissed. And that entire time, Bryan was silent and sat on the edge of the couch, his hands folded over his knees as he leaned forward, not once looking over at hallway that led to the room that Emil was in. Lei really couldn't blame him for reacting like that.

As he trudged up the stairs, he took off his coat and loosened the tie he was wearing and pulled it off, and slung both over his arm before opening the door to his floor and heading down the hallway. When he reached his door, he dung in his pocket until he found his keys and fumbled around with them until he got the right one.

He stuck the key into the hole, but with the force of his pushing, Lei's apartment door creaked opened slowly. The detective groaned softly to himself when he realized that the door hadn't been latched at all and grabbed the doorknob to pull his keys out. He then entered his apartment, his head down as his sight was still focused on the knob. He looked up into his darkened apartment then, blinked, then quickly reached over to the wall to turn on the lights.

"Hi," Jun said quietly when the light clicked on. She was wearing tight black tank top and a pair of cut-off white dukes; the younger woman was stretched out on her stomach on the couch, her legs up and crossed gracefully. Lei lifted a brow and sighed heavily.

"How'd you get in?" he asked as he hung his coat up on the hat stand by the light switch. As he waited for a reply, he turned his attention back to his partner. He noticed quickly that Jun looked upset.

"I picked the lock." She shifted and sat up slowly. "Where were you all day?"

"Running errands," Lei reached behind him and closed the door. "Why do you ask?"

Jun shrugged, "I was trying to get in touch with you and Bryan all day. Neither one of you were taking calls." She crossed her legs and folded her hands neatly on her knees. "I take it he was helping you run your errands?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Heh," the younger woman chuckled coolly. "So, what was so important that you could call Bryan and not me?"

Lei scratched the back of his head, "It was nothing, really. The two of us decided to go out. I mean, since you're not exactly excited to be here."

"Bullshit, Wulong." Her eyes narrowed, "You've been acting weird since we went to see Nina the other day."

"Well, how am I supposed to act around you?" Lei shook his head and sighed heavily. "You've been so emotional and practically useless--"

"--Useless?"

"Yes, useless! I won't lie." Jun shot up from her seat as Lei said this, her hands balled up into fists. He blinked at the angry woman before him and stepped back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't said it like that..." Jun crossed her arms.

"Since we're on the subject of not lying, do me a favor and just come out with it. Everything," she said harshly.

"He's dead."

Jun's face softened into confusion and she slowly dropped her arms, "Who?"

"That Emil guy," Lei hung head and rubbed the back of his neck. "He's dead, Jun." He looked up to see Jun's face; her lips were parted slightly and her eyes were wide in shock and fright. "You were right about Williams. Bryan and I were looking into it, and... I'm sorry, I should had just told you from the start."

"Wait, you're saying that Nina's...?" Lei nodded once stiffly in response. She numbly sat back down on the couch and looked down, her eyes still wide as she stared blankly at her bare feet.

Lei approached her cautiously and sat down next to her, facing her fully. His face was tired and sad.

"Maybe you should had stayed in New York, like you wanted," he began softly as he placed an arm around Jun's shoulders. 

She didn't answer.

  


*****

  


He was still awake when Kazuya returned from taking Anna home, and Lee sat in his room on his bed, door cracked and listened to his brother trot up the stairs and into his room, then to silence. Lee glanced over at his clock; it was three after two in the morning. The younger Mishima brother began to wonder if Kazuya had even noticed that Lee had never left the house, or even cared for that matter. He stood up and stretched, then strained his ears again. He heard the bathroom door open and close and then the sounds of the shower. Lee grunted, rolled his eyes, and then exited his room. 

The only light in the hall came from the crack between the bathroom door and the floor, and it weakly lit up the hall. Lee paused at the door, nearly barging in and demanding an explanation from Kazuya about what exactly he and Anna were planning, but stopped himself. The silver haired youth sighed heavily and continued down the hall, his arms crossed. He stomped down the stairs, through the kitchen, and finally out the backdoor to the garden.

It was relatively cool that night, though Lee didn't notice the change in weather at all. He hadn't bothered to change into night clothes and was still clad in his jeans and white hooded shirt from earlier, and he was barefoot. He went halfway up the pathway to the dojo then stopped. He was troubled by the rock garden. 

Of course, it hadn't been raked in nearly a week, and the neat little tracks and patterns that Heihachi had so carefully made had been eroded way from the storm the other day. Leaves from the cherry blossom trees and withered poppy petals were scattered all over the sandy plot. The young man shook his head at the mess, though part of him did find it beautiful in a natural, chaotic way. 

He finally began to walk again and reached the dojo, and like he did most nights, the young man sat down in the middle of the large room and faced the large windows and watched. There was nothing to see, and there wouldn't be for hours. He knew that, and usually he just practiced his katas until he was bored or needed to go outside to smoke. But tonight, he sat cross-legged and jaded. He let out a frustrated huff when he noticed the backdoor to the house opening and then Kazuya stepping out and heading towards the dojo and pulling a long sleeved grey t-shirt over his head. The younger man stood up and dusted himself off, then looked over his shoulder towards the door when he heard it open and nodded once at his brother.

"You can have it," Lee said as he walked towards his brother to leave. 

Kazuya shook his head, "No, I came out here to talk to you, Chaolan. Not to practice." The older Mishima brother crossed his arms, "I wanted to ask you something."

"Can we go back to the house, then?" Lee asked, also crossing his arms. "I'd like to light up."

"Fine."

They were both silent as the went back to the manor, and Kazuya opened the door for his brother then slipped inside himself. Lee sat down at the table, and as usual pulled his zippo and his smokes from his pocket. He popped a cigarette in his mouth and lit up.

Kazuya sat down in front of his brother and frowned, "You know, that's gonna kill you one day."

"Heh," Lee chuckled, "Let's not have that conversation again, Kazuya."

"Alright." Kazuya looked down at his hands, then back up at Lee, "You're mad at me, I take it?"

"You know, I haven't really decided if I am or not." The younger Mishima pulled his cigarette from him mouth; smoke blew from his nostrils. The older man nodded once and leaned back in his chair, his eyes fixated on his brother as his listened. "It's just awkward now, with Anna hanging around again."

"You said weren't angry about that."

"And you said that there wasn't anything going on between the two of you," Lee retorted coolly. "How the fuck am I'm supposed to respond to that?"

Kazuya blinked and was silent.

Lee continued, "And then I get the feeling that you're telling her more than you're telling me."

"It's not like that," Kazuya finally replied. "It's hard to explain, but come on. You know I wouldn't keep anything from you."

"You sure in the hell didn't tell me you were fucking her," the silver haired boy growled almost under his breath. 

Kazuya stood up and crossed his arms, "You said didn't matter, that it wasn't your right to get upset."

Lee put out his cigarette and stood up as well, "That was before I knew you were sleeping with her." He chuckled harshly and crossed his arms, "Not that I blame you. She's a good fuck--"

"--What is _wrong_ with you?!" the older boy cried. "This has nothing to do with Anna. Just say it!" He turned away and threw his arms up in the air before angrily exiting the kitchen. Kazuya paused at the door, however, and looked over his shoulder, "You were like this long before I even touched her. Now you just have an excuse." He then left Lee to himself and hastily went up the stairs.

Lee slowly sat back down in his chair, his head still turned to the doorway that his brother had stormed out of. His hands were trembling, though at the moment, he couldn't tell if it was from anger or from nervousness. He sat there for almost half an hour before he stood up and headed upstairs himself. 

As he walked to his room, the younger Mishima was glad to see that Kazuya's light was off, and quietly he opened his bedroom door and went inside. After he latched the door behind him, Lee pulled off all his clothes and threw himself on his bed, though he knew he wasn't going to get any sleep that night. After only a few minutes, he sat back up, stood up, and cautiously crept out of his room again. He tiptoed down to Kazuya's room and tried the door quietly and found that it wasn't locked.

__

Of course, he never locks his door, the younger man mused to himself before slowly pushing the door open and slipping inside of the room. He then strolled over to the foot of his brother's bed and stood silently.

Much to Lee's surprise, Kazuya was actually asleep, though he was tossing and turning as Lee watched. The younger smiled and shook his head once, again amused by watching his brother dream. He finally stepped around to the side of the bed and sat down next to the older boy. 

He looked out at into the room then. It was the total opposite of his, with everything neatly in place, reflecting the way Kazuya presented himself to the world everyday. 

"You know, Kaz," Lee began quietly, his eyes still forward. "I sometimes wonder if you ever get tired of trying so hard. You're so damned perfect, it makes me sick. It has to make you sick, too." He glanced over at Kazuya, who was still now, the only movement coming from the slow rising falling of his chest. "You can't keep it up. You'll crack." He looked out forward again and let out a heavy sigh. 

"At least I'm trying." Lee whipped his head back to see Kazuya peering up at him. The older boy shifted a bit and sat up slowly. "One of us has to."

"Maybe," the younger boy replied as he looked forward again. He felt the mattress move again as Kazuya sat next to him. He then turned to fully face his brother, "But is it really worth it?"

"I don't know," Kazuya said slowly as he hung his head. "I guess...I just keep hoping things'll change, even though I know they won't. But you're right. I am tired." Lee smiled fondly at that response, startled but pleasantly surprised at Kazuya's honesty, since the younger man had fully expected some kind of falsely optimistic reply from his brother.

Lee wrapped his arms around his brother's neck, "I like you better this way." With his head still down, Kazuya let out a soft laugh and shook his head until he felt Lee nuzzling against his neck. He then stiffened up and pulled away. However, the younger boy responded by hugging him again and then pulling away slightly only to slide his hands from Kazuya's neck up to gently cup his face.

Kazuya pulled completely away, "Good night, Chaolan."

"Good night," Lee sighed as he withdrew his hands and stood up.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

The sun hadn't completely risen yet, and it was quiet that Sunday morning as Michelle crept out of her room and down the hallway to the living room. When she reached the end of the hall, she peeked her head around the corner. There was no one else up, which surprised her. Usually, her grandfather would already be awake and practicing his Tai Chi until the womenfolk of the house finally woke up. The young girl sighed with relief, turned, and headed back down the hall. She stopped at the door to her father's den and carefully turned the knob. She pushed on it, and the door creaked opened slowly.

Nothing in the room had been touched since Mao's death. There were still papers on the desk by the window, yellowed from age, and not a single book from the two walls of shelving had been moved or misplaced. The room was thick with the smell of dust. Michelle let out a small cough as she breathed in the stale air and stepped fully into the room, shutting the door behind her. She glanced around.

It reminded her so much of her childhood, especially on those Saturdays when she would run into that room and hugged her father's legs as he worked. He would always smile and muss her hair up, sometime picking her up and seating her on his lap so she could draw on his yellow legal pad. There was still even an unlit cigar on the desk laying by the glass ashtray, which hadn't been emptied, and there a faint scent of burnt vanilla from the ashes. She smiled lightly to herself then frowned as she looked up at the window when something flashed and caught her eye.

Hanging from the wall next to the window was that gold pendant. Michelle had never remembered it being there before, even as a child. She glanced over her shoulder then trotted over to the desk to better look at the small gold necklace. It was still too high up for her to see very well, so she climbed up and stood on the leather swivel chair behind the desk. Cautiously, she lifted a hand to unhook the chain from where it hung and then hopped off the chair. She looked down at the pendant in her palm.

The charm itself was no bigger than a dime and was a small, tarnished coin set in gold. It had an engraving an highly stylized bird on it, nearly completely worn away from age. Michelle flipped the coin on its back and squinted. The back was hidden by the flat gold setting, which had a Japanese inscription on it, to which she could barely read. 

" 'To......from.......the gift of life'?" she read out loud slowly. She sat down in her father's leather chair, still staring down at the necklace. The door to the den opened, and she whipped up her head.

"Michelle, you know you shouldn't be in here," Wang said gravely as he shook his head at her. The young girl gave her grandfather a nervous grin and jumped up at out of her seat so she could leave. When she reached the door, however, she stopped and listened; no one else was up. She let out a heavy sigh and opened her palm up to show Wang.

"Where did Dad get this?" she asked quietly. The old man looked down at the small coin in his granddaughter's hand and frowned.

"I told Helen to get rid of that thing," he sighed heavily. "It's useless."

"Grampa?"

"It's not your father's. He wasn't supposed to have that. He was keeping it for, I think, Rich Williams." The old man moved to the side to let Michelle out. "I can tell you a bit more outside. But only if you promise to get rid of it afterwards."

She nodded as Wang quietly latched the den door shut. The old man then beckoned at the girl to follow him and began to make his way down the hall and out the front door. When outside, he sat down on the concrete steps then gestured for the young girl to join him. She obeyed quickly.

"Show me again," he said. She nodded and opened her hand up. The old man shook his head with remorse as he looked at the pendant again. "The coin, it's from Mexico. Rich and Heihachi had went on a business trip out there. Heihachi had bought it and had it set as a souvenir for his wife."

Michelle frowned, "I guess that explains the Japanese on the back. But why did Dad have it?"

"Like I said," Wang began again, "He was keeping it for Rich. I guess...the coin's worth a small fortune, and Rich had stole the thing and promised Mao half. Also, there's this silly legend that the bird on the coin symbolizes eternal life granted by some Aztec god. But I doubt Mao or Rich cared about that."

"What about Heihachi, though?"

"Well, actually, he might had. His wife had been ill for quite some time. I remember, when I used to work as a gardener at their manor, she was constantly in the hospital or bed-ridden. It only got worse after she had that baby..." 

The old man frowned, and his forehead wrinkled up with thought, "Now that I think about it, the whole household took Kazue's pregnancy as an ill omen." Wang stopped and looked out towards the morning sunlight. Michelle looked down at the necklace again.

"Heh, imagine," Wang chuckled as he stroked his beard, "being hated just for being born." His granddaughter frowned and stood up.

"What should I do with this?" she asked, dangling the pendant in front of the old man.

"If it was me, I'd take it to Kazue's grave." He shook his head again and stood up slowly. "But, that's impossible to do. She's buried in Okinawa."

Wang chuckled and added softly, "Just throw it away." The old man began to shuffle slowly into the house.

"Grampa?" she said again. Wang turned around slowly. "This is the reason Dad died, right?"

The elderly man shook his head, "Your father, he did a lot of bad things to the Mishimas. I think Heihachi would had forgiven Mao had he just told the truth. I really do."

"Is this the reason, though?" Michelle repeated.

"No." With that, the old man went back inside of the house and left Michelle to herself.

The sun had finished rising by then, however the girl could see clouds gathering. She then frowned as she heard an engine in the distance rumbling and growing louder, until finally she saw Paul turning the corner on his bike and speeding towards the house. Michelle sat back down and waited as the blonde pulled up into the driveway.

"You're pretty brave," she commented after Paul turned off his motorcycle. The blonde shrugged and hopped off.

"I wanted to call, but you know how it goes..." His voice trailed, and the biker frowned as he made his way to where Michelle was sitting quietly. "I got worried when you stormed off the other day." He sat down next to the younger girl. Michelle didn't reply but looked out towards the street, avoiding eye contact with the older man.

When she didn't answer, Paul added softly, "I'm sorry, I should had told you the truth, Shelly."

  


*****

  


She was awoken by the faint sounds of water running in the apartment next door, and Jun found herself still in Lei's arms that morning on the couch. She pulled away, taking care not to wake him and sat up to rub her eyes. Lei groaned a little and shift a bit next to her, still not fully waking up, and the younger woman sat up fully and turned to watch Lei sleep.

Of course, nothing had happened. Jun wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed about that. Maybe a little of both or maybe neither. It was finally registering for her that she had cried in front of him, in his arms even, and he had said nothing and just held her. She still didn't know exactly why she was upset. Now, however, it had nothing to do with her being left out or coming home. 

Jun hadn't shed a tear since she was a teenager. It was something she promised herself that she would never do again, after the last time she had spoken with her father after that night she returned from Paul's. The older man never knew that she hadn't been to prom at all, yet it was seeing those shoes in the trash and finally a small rip in the skirt of that white dress was when he questioned her morals. 

She had simply replied, "I don't have any morals, aside from yours." 

Her father slapped her in response to that. 

She brushed a lock of dark hair out from Lei's eyes as he slept and smiled weakly at him. She hadn't meant to involve him like that, to force her problems onto him. Until the previous night, their relationship had been nothing more than professional, though friendly. She felt terrible that he had seen this side of her, something that she herself had been afraid to look at. Lei twitched a bit when her hand left his face, and his eyes slowly blinked opened. He gazed up at Jun for moment, his face unreadable, until he sat up slowly and looked ahead towards his front door. He then glanced over at his partner and back at the door.

"Wulong--Lei," Jun began softly. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing," he murmured as he leaned back onto the couch cushions.

She shook her head, "I don't like putting my problems on other people." Lei frowned at that explanation yet kept silent. "You were right. I hadn't been pulling my weight at all. I promise, I'll be focused on this case from now on."

"Would you just forget about the fucking case for a second?" the older man mumbled as rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "Look, Jun, it's okay to be upset. It's okay to get angry sometimes." He pulled his hand away from his face and sat up. Lei then turned fully to face the younger woman, his face stern. "Nobody can go through life being content all the time. Nobody should expect anyone else to."

She grinned wearily, "Weren't you the one that said to stop being so pessimistic all the time?"

"I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic," Lei shrugged before cracking a small smile and nudging her. Jun looked forward again, chuckling softly to herself then turned her head and gazed at Lei. She crossed her arms and leaned over her knees as she felt her eyes watering up again, and she looked away. The younger woman let out another small laugh before she felt tears rolling down her cheeks, and she sat up a bit to free an arm to wipe them away. She sniffed and looked back up at Lei, who was frowning at her.

He then leaned in, his face to hers, pulling away a bit as he hesitated. The older detective bit his bottom lip then finally let out a heavy sigh before he closed his eyes and leaned in completely, gently kissing Jun once. Her eyes widened when his lips touched hers for that brief moment, and when he pulled away, she saw that he was still frowning.

"Heh," he started, "I guess that was a mistake." He slumped back into his seat and sighed again. He glanced back at Jun and shrugged.

Jun blinked, still a bit in shock, but she managed to reply, "No."

"Whatever you say, Kazama," Lei murmured as he closed his eyes. A weak grin crept across his face. "You know, the more we sit here and talk, the more we keep screwing up what we had before, huh?"

Jun smiled to herself, "Whatever you say, Wulong." He started chuckling and before long was laughing fully. Jun felt herself snickering and doing the same. 

After several minutes, Lei finally managed to control his laughter, "Just forget that I did that, alright?" He glanced over at Jun, grinning fully.

She stopped chuckling and frowned a bit, "And why would I want to do that?" 


	16. Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Lee was awakened by the sounds of his bedroom door swinging open then slamming shut. He sat up slowly and blinked at his father who stood in his room, arms crossed. The man still was clad in a grey business suit from his traveling, minus the blazer. The sleeves of his white oxford shirt were rolled up. He looked tired.

"Good morning, sir," Lee said slowly before he swung over the side of his bed to grab his flannel pajamas bottoms. "I thought you weren't coming home until this evening."

"Change of plans," the older man answered softly. Heihachi then rubbed his temples, "Your brother. Where is he?"

"He's gone?" Lee got out of bed and pulled on his bottoms then straightened up; Heihachi nodded once at him. Like his father, Lee crossed his arms. "I couldn't tell you. You know Kazuya hardly tells me anything these days."

"Right," Heihachi replied quietly.

The younger man glanced over at the clock then back at his father, "Is something wrong?"

"I'm not sure." After he said that, Heihachi turned and numbly opened the door then hastily exited. Lee blinked then followed, his arms still crossed. 

As he pulled his bedroom door shut behind him, Lee looked up and noticed the bathroom light was on and the door opened. He then cautiously walked there, then leaned in the doorway, somewhat not surprised by what he saw.

The vanity mirror had been shattered, leaving the floor covered in glass and dried blood. Lee could only assume that Kazuya had punched it in a few hours ago. The grey haired boy let out a low chuckle, amused that he had somehow slept through the noise. He grinned slightly and shook his head before turning to go get a broom.

It wasn't ten minutes later when the phone rang, and the silverhair boy trotted out of the bathroom and into Kazuya's room to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Um...Lee?" Anna asked weakly, almost whispering.

He frowned and sat down on the bed, "Kaz isn't here. Don't know when he'll be back."

"I...don't care who I talk to. I...just....Lee, Emil's..."

"He's...?" Lee lifted a brow. "He's what, Anna?"

"He's...dead. The police came here to question Nina about it. I'm..." There was a pause, then Lee heard weeping on the other end of the line. He blinked once slowly in shock as what the younger girl said finally clicked.

"Anna, calm down," he finally responded to the crying.

"I...can't," she sobbed. "I don't understand what's going on. I'm scared."

"It's okay. Just, um, you have to keep strong for Nina. Okay?" He paused and listened. There was silence at the other end. "Anna?"

"Lee...I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Everything's going to be okay. I promise." He found himself repeating that over and over again, saying anything he could to calm her. He stood up and paced as he talked to her in a whisper and in a trance, hardly paying attention to what came out of his mouth, and thoughts that hadn't formed fully trickled out. He kept glancing over at the door as he walked back and forth across the room, as if waiting for Kazuya to come in. 

Finally, he said, "I love you."

There was another long awkward silence before she whispered hastily, "I have to go," and hung up.

"Anna?" Lee frowned. The dial tone whined in his ear. He sighed heavily and placed the receiver back and rubbed his temples, confused and embarrassed. He then left the room to go back to his sweeping.

  


*****

  


Heihachi pulled the door to the dojo shut behind him as he walked away from the building. Earlier, he had checked the garage: Kazuya's car was still there, and Heihachi knew that Lee's was in the shop again. He sighed heavily and nervously made his way back to the house. 

He paused at his rock garden, however. For moment the immediacy of his dilemma was gone, and he found himself thinking ahead to that evening. Clean up the garden, rake the sand, and review the week's finances, dinner, Monday morning... He then looked up slowly, then over his shoulder out past the dojo onto the lands and road that led out from his home and frowned.

  


*****

  


Lee spent the afternoon in his room, reading quieting, which was something he rarely did these days. He had nothing to say to his father at the moment. That, and with Kazuya gone for the day and no car, he had nothing better to do. Occasionally, he would get up to look out of his bedroom window, hoping that maybe he would see his older brother trotting down the driveway. A part of Lee knew better than to get his hopes up. This was something he felt was long overdue. 

As a child, Kazuya had always had a temper. He wasn't particularly mean to Lee, however; in fact, their mother was surprised by how well the older boy had taken to Lee when they had brought home the toddler. But it was other things. The older Mishima boy was known for his terrible tantrums and violent tendencies.

It wasn't until he came home wounded that he changed, forced smiles and passiveness. It was as if Kazuya blamed his anger for his disfigured chest. And over the years, he had become that person. As the two boys grew older, that vibe that Kazuya gave off was mixed with a fake optimism that the younger boy grew to despise. Lee wouldn't lie to anyone about that: he had wanted Kazuya to finally just crack, regardless of what the consequences would be.

He looked up again from his book as his bedroom door opened, and Heihachi poked his head in.

"May I?" the older man asked as he stepped into the room fully and gestured to bed. Lee shifted to make room for his father sit and marked his spot in his book before shutting it. The older man quietly latched the door behind him then sat down on the bed.

"You shouldn't worry," Lee began quietly. "He'll come home."

"I'm not worried about that," the older Mishima replied as he shook his head. "I know he will." Lee frowned and glanced over at the window. The sky was starting to cloud up, and the sunlight was vanishing and reappearing as the clouds moved and hid the sun. The boy sighed heavily then went back to his reading. Heihachi, however, kept his head forward and didn't look at his son at all but instead at the scattered clothing all over the floor and the mess of papers and trinkets on the dresser. The only thing that the older man could see clearly was a photograph on the corner of his son's vanity mirror on his dresser. It was of Lee when he was about three years old with his biological parents, taken in Taiwan right before they had migrated to the United States. The older man dropped his eyes.

"She thought it was a blessing," Heihachi began again softly. Lee lifted his head slowly and arched a brow. "When she was found out that she was pregnant...God, I was so frightened. She wasn't supposed to be able to have children."

"Mama, you mean?" the younger man asked.

His father nodded once slowly, "I tried so hard to believe the same thing. I just couldn't. Kazuya, he just--" He stopped and hung his head, rubbing his temples.

"Dad?"

"He shouldn't exist." Lee bit his bottom lip nervously after his father said those last words. Heihachi finally turned his head and gazed sadly at his youngest son. "That day when he returned from the hills--"

"--You fucked him up for life," the younger man replied calmly. "Now he goes around thinking it's best for him just smile, then everything's going to be okay." Lee narrowed his eyes, "Don't tell me you thought that was _normal_." Heihachi let out a chuckle at Lee's response and stood up.

"Of course not," said the older man. "Though, you changed that day, too."

"I know. Thanks to you, I've spent the past ten years wondering who's going to kill me first: you or Kaz after he snaps."

"I wouldn't do that," Heihachi shook his head and placed his hands on his hips. "If only you'd learn to fight back."

Lee stood up as well, "And when I finally do, you plan on dropping me off of a cliff too?" Heihachi hit Lee in the face with a closed fist in response to that remark. The younger man fell backward on to his bed, holding his jaw; his bottom lip had caught on one of his front teeth and was busted open and bleeding. However, he just glared back up at his father, who waited for Lee to say something or retaliate.

When the boy didn't, the older man grabbed the younger man by his shirt collar and dragged him up.

"Fight back!" he screamed at the boy as he threw his son onto the floor. Lee kept silent through, and he attempted to sit up. However, he was kicked in the stomach, and the boy laid back down, hugging himself. He still refused to say anything or throw a punch. With a little groan, Lee began to crawl over to his bedroom door. Heihachi grabbed Lee again by the collar before the he could make it, however, and the older man slammed the boy against the wall; Lee's head whipped forward from the impact of the back of his skull. 

"All you have to do is fight back," the older man hissed before releasing his son, and the silver haired boy slumped down to the ground and blinked before passing out.

Lee awoke to find that it was evening, and his room was dark aside from the dim light coming from his window. He stood up painfully and rubbed the back of his head. It was still hurting a bit, but if anything it was were he had been kicked that was bothering the silver haired boy the most. He cringed and grabbed his stomach, then slowly made he way to the bathroom to shower.

When he was in the bathroom, the boy pulled off the t-shirt he was wearing and looked down at his stomach. He clicked the roof of his mouth and rolled his eyes. As he expected, there was a purple bruise across it, though it wasn't as big as he thought it would be. The young man sighed and finished undressing before turning on the water and stepping into the shower.

The warm water felt pleasant massaging itself onto the boy's skin, and he closed his eyes and just let it beat down on him. It seemed to be helping the pain in his stomach at least, and the boy rubbed the back of his neck. He bit his bottom lip, however, as the image of his older brother and Anna fucking in the den faded into his mind until it was a vivid film projecting onto his closed eyelids, something loud, obscene, and beautiful. He could still hear his ex moaning, her legs wrapped around Kazuya the way they used to be wrapped around him, and even just the way that the older boy had been touching and kissing her was obnoxiously perfect. 

With eyes still closed, Lee slowly slid his hand down from his neck and down his torso to between his legs and wrapped around the base of his erection.

He emerged from upstairs, pulling a navy t-shirt over his wet hair. Lee stopped halfway down the stairs, however. Like the rest of the house, the lights were off downstairs, yet he could see glittering weakly in the evening light more broken glass; the coffee tabletop in the living room had been broken like the mirror in the bathroom. He proceeded carefully down the stairs and into the kitchen. 

The door leading to the garage was open, as was the garage itself. Lee stopped and stared at the open door and listened to the sounds of crickets echoing from inside the garage. Heihachi's car was gone. 

"Heihachi?" Lee called cautiously as he made his way closer to the door. "Kaz?" He frowned and strained his ears to listen for a response. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

The younger boy yelped as he spun around and saw his brother, who blinked at Lee then grinned a bit.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Kazuya said as he pulled his hand away. Lee turned around fully to face his brother and frowned.

He looked the same, long sleeved gray t-shirt with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, khaki cargo pants, a pair of black sandals, and friendly smile. Kazuya's right hand, however, was no longer bandaged up, and Lee could see all the nicks and cuts. The knuckles were still bleeding a bit as well. In that injured hand, Kazuya was jingling his car keys.

Lee was silent for moment before asking, "Where's Dad?"

"He hasn't been home yet?" the older boy asked. 

"He got back this morning." Kazuya nodded and smiled again at his brother. "Where were you?"

"I went for a walk," the dark-haired boy shrugged. "It was nice out. Still is." He glanced over at the open door. "Sorry about leaving the door opened. I was just running in to get my keys." He then turned his attention back to his little brother. "Wanna go for a ride?"

Lee didn't answer but stared confused at the older man then hugged himself slowly. Kazuya frowned at the silence, then narrowed his eyes as he finally noticed the cut on Lee's lip and the bruise that had darkened on the side of the boy's face.

"He never hits you in the face," the older boy said quietly.

"I had it coming." 

Kazuya's frown deepened at that reply, and he shook his head, "I hardly believe that. Coming or not?"

"Yeah," Lee shrugged, his arms still crossed. Kazuya smiled and went ahead of Lee, turning only to beckon to his younger brother to join him. Lee followed reluctantly, and the two of them got into Kazuya's car and drove off. 

They were both silent as they drove down the down the road. The moon was peeking through the clouds that were breaking up finally that day. Lee was glaring over at Kazuya, who kept his gaze fixated forward. The older boy was humming softly to himself as he drove, seemingly oblivious to his younger brother's contempt.

"Where did you go?" Lee repeated quietly.

"I told you, for a walk." Kazuya glanced over his brother.

The younger man frowned, "I mean, where? You were gone all day."

"Ever wonder why you were put on this earth?" the older man chuckled, ignoring the question. "You know, I woke up this morning, and everything was just so clear finally," Kazuya continued. He then pulled over to the side of the road, stepped on the brakes, and put the car in park. Kazuya looked over at his little brother. When their eyes met, Lee's mouth dropped opened from shock, and he pushed as far away from his brother the best he could.

The older boy frowned, "What's wrong, Chaolan?"

"Your eyes! Jesus fucking Christ, Kaz!" Kazuya blinked once, confused, to which Lee blinked and nervously leaned in closer to better look at his brother's face; Kazuya's irises were normal looking. The younger boy slumped back into his seat, his eyes wide with fear.

Kazuya lifted a brow, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah...I guess I was just seeing things," the younger man responded shakily. He squinted again in the dark at Kazuya. Still he saw nothing wrong, and his brother smiled at him again.

"You sure?" Kazuya chuckled. Lee was silent and nodded once stiffly. Kazuya turned off the car, then shifted in his seat to better look at Lee.

"I wanted to ask you last night, if I took over Mishima, would you work with me?" he started quietly. His face became solemn as he said this, and he waited quietly for a response from his younger brother, who was still twitching nervously.

Lee slowly crossed his arms over his stomach and stammered, "T-took over, as in how soon?"

"Not for awhile." Kazuya glanced over at windshield and let out a heavy huff. "I was thinking last night, how much I'd miss you if you left. I know...I tease you about running away all the time. I don't mean it, you know."

"I know."

Kazuya sighed and looked back at his brother, "I want you to be happy, you know? Last night, after you left, it didn't really occur to me until then that I--" He stopped and smiled weakly at Lee then lifted a hand and gingerly touched the bruise on Lee's face. The younger man kept his gaze on Kazuya, never flinching as the bloodied hand stroked his cheek repeatedly. "I've been really inconsiderate."

"It's your life," Lee responded quietly. He felt his stomach tightening as his brother's hand stopped and rested on his cheek. The sudden affection he was receiving was unnerving, especially after sixteen years of Kazuya pushing him away when it came to being that intimate. The younger boy soon found that he couldn't look Kazuya in the eye any longer and looked down.

"Besides," he started again, "It's not like we're kids anymore, Kaz. And you've always looked out for me. Even though I know you have hate me as much as I hate you."

Kazuya began chuckling at that comment, then busted fully into laughter as he pulled away his hand. Lee kept his head down and listened.

"Me hate you?" The older boy turned back and placed a hand the wheel, still laughing. He then started the car and put it in drive. "Me hating you," he repeated to himself, amused, as he pulled out back onto the road and started driving again.

Lee looked up, "Now where are we going?"

"You'll see." With his eyes still on the road, Kazuya chuckled, "Heh, me hating you. You know, Chaolan, I could kiss you sometimes."


	17. Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

He dozed off during the car ride, but Lee woke as he felt the car jolt up as it rolled over a particularly large bump on the gravel road that the two men were traveling on now. He blinked slowly once and sat up, still holding his stomach from earlier and went back to gazing at his brother intently. Kazuya pulled over to the side of the road and shut off the car.

"This is it?" Lee yawned as he turned his head to look out the window. There was little to be seen outside; it was dark and what Lee could make out was only grass. He glanced back over at Kazuya, who opened his car door and hopped out. The older Mishima boy then trotted over to Lee's side and opened the door.

"No, it's further out past this field," Kazuya finally replied pleasantly, and he grinned at Lee. The younger boy blinked once at that response then quietly got out of the car. He then stood and let his eyes adjust to the dark and looked out towards the field again. 

The moon was hidden behind clouds once again, and in the distance, the faint silhouettes of several rolling hills were blocked out against the navy night sky, and he could see a few trees jetting out from the ground, breaking up the dark horizon. 

Kazuya took Lee's hand and began to hastily lead his brother across the grass and towards those hills. Lee, who was barefoot, could only stumble after the older boy, despite his pleading with Kazuya to slow down. The older boy didn't, of course, until they had made to the hills, and over several of them. When he reached his destination, which was after the two had hiked up a particularly large and steep hill, Kazuya stopped and dropped his brother's hand, and he moved ahead cautiously. Lee sat down on the soft grass and rubbed the bottoms of his feet, both of which were bleeding a bit from running over rocks and twigs.

"You don't mind me asking," Lee began again as he looked up from massaging the ball of his left foot, "but where the hell are we?"

Kazuya frowned and turned around, "You don't know?" The young boy shook his head, and he squinted. His eyes had adjusted to the darkness, but it was still difficult to make out his brother's features. However, he could sense the disappointment from Kazuya.

"Maybe if you brought me here during the day," the younger man added gently. "I'm just tired, Kaz. That's all. And it's dark." Kazuya shook his head and turned back around. "Kazuya?" Lee sighed heavily, stood up, and dusted his jeans off before making his way over to his brother's side. The clouds in the sky lazily shifted again, and the moon began to peak out, softly luminating the world below it. Lee frowned and squatted down when he could finally see where he was.

Though he had never been out to that exact spot himself, Lee knew exactly where Kazuya had taken him now. They were standing a few feet from the edge of a cliff, to which Lee saw dropped down several feet; he roughly calculated in his head that the drop was probably about three or four times the height of the manor. The bottom of the cliff was rocky, and the younger boy could see out for miles. The world below them looked like a wasteland. The sky brightened a bit more as clouds moved and parted farther away from the moon, revealing it fully.

"Why did you bring me here?" Lee asked softly as he straightened up. He fixated his gaze on the older man, who was looking forward, his face stony. The younger man was startled by Kazuya's expression; it had been years since Lee had seen that kind of stoic and frighteningly placid look on his brother's face. 

Kazuya kept his gaze forward, "I wanted you to see." His voice came out in a low, even whisper. 

He continued, "This is where I was all day, and I just sat there and thought. I thought about you and Mama. And _him._" Lee glanced down at Kazuya's hands, where balled up into tight fists and were trembling. Other than that, the older Mishima brother showed no signs of emotions.

"Kaz, maybe we should head back. It's getting late." Lee hugged himself.

"Why? We'll go home, he'll hit you again."

"I can take care of myself." Kazuya turned his head towards Lee, mouth still drawn down in a tight frown.

He brought his hand up and gently touched the side of Lee's face again; the younger man responded by jerking back and frowning.

"Stop that," Lee mumbled. Kazuya cracked a grin at that and looked back out towards the bed of rock that stretched out below them. He then sat down and crossed his legs indian-style. Lee let out and angry huff and did the same.

"I'm sorry," the dark-haired boy chuckled. He glanced over at Lee, flashing a nervous grin, then looked forward.

"Remember when we were kids, how you like never slept in your room?" Kazuya smiled and glanced over at Lee again.

"Yeah," the younger boy nodded, "I think I used to scare the shit out you, right?"

"No, not at all. It was just, you know, I didn't know what to say to you when you'd come into my room."

Lee frowned, "You didn't have say anything. I just wanted company."

"I was--am terrible company, huh?"

"Terrible, no. Irritating sometimes, yes. But if I didn't want you to be around me, believe me I'd let you know." Lee felt a smile creep across his lips after he said that.

Kazuya began laughing; his laughter echoed over the rocks below and beyond where he sat with his brother. Lee listened to his brother for several minutes and then realized that Kazuya was crying.

"God, what the fuck is wrong with me?" Kazuya chuckled, bringing a palm up to wipe away the tears in his eyes. He looked back over at Lee, still smiling; new tears were forming.

"I think," Lee began again softly, "we should go home. It's late." He stood up and stretched.

"Yeah..." The older man stood up as well and dusted himself off. He gave a small, pained smile at Lee, who extended his hand. Kazuya blinked and stared down at it.

"Come on, take it," Lee commanded playfully. "I need you lead me out of here, because I sure in the hell don't know how we got here." Kazuya blinked again then took his brother's hand gingerly; Lee firmly gripped back. The older Mishima could only laugh.

The trip home didn't seem to take as long as the drive to the hills had, and as Kazuya drove down into their garage, he saw Heihachi was home now. He sighed heavily as he pulled in and parked next to the green Cadillac, and he shut off the car.

He turned to his younger brother, "Well?" Lee's response was a soft chuckle, and the younger man nodded at Kazuya.

"Kaz, he loves you."

"Whatever." Kazuya opened his door and stepped out one foot. Lee, however, just watched his brother quietly and waited. He could see that the older boy was hesitant about going inside, and for good reason.

"Hey, look," the younger man shrugged, "Whatever happens, it's only one step closer to this being over, right?" Lee then turned back and opened his door, stepping out and shutting the door. He trotted up to the door leading to the kitchen and entered the house.

Kazuya sat rigidly in the car for a few moments longer before slowly getting out and slamming his car door. Then he made his way over to the house entrance, pausing only to take a deep breath, and opened the door.

  


*****

  


It was half past one in the morning, and Anna was still awake. She laid on her bed, staring over at her phone. She wasn't sure if she should had been relieved that it hadn't rang today or worried. She sat and swung her feet over the side of her bed, then waited a bit longer before sighing heavily and standing up. She then walked over to her door and grabbed her robe before leaving her room.

The kitchen light was on, which startled Anna; Nina had pretty much locked herself in her room the entire day to no surprise to the younger girl. As she cautiously crept down the hall, she stopped at the end.

There was Nina was fully dressed in a black catsuit and her leather coat, and she sat at the kitchen table in the breakfast room, her back turned towards her sister. She was hunched over, fiddling with something, and the sounds of her tinkering clicked ominously in the otherwise silent room. The blonde paused at what she was doing, and slowly lifted her head. Anna held her breath as her sister looked over her shoulder.

Nina's face was still puffy from her crying, mouth drawn down in a tight frown and eyes still red. She was silent, however, and turned her head back to what she had been concentrating on. Anna quietly entered the room; she blinked when she saw what Nina had been doing.

The gun, had been their father's, and when they were children, it was almost always locked away in the cabinet. Richard only brought it out for "special occasions", the last being the day of his death. Now, the assault rifle was being placed piece by piece on the table and in front of its opened case as Nina gingerly took apart and cleaned it, laying out each part as if it were sacred. Anna felt herself tearing up again at the sight.

"Don't do it," the young Williams sister whispered as she sat down. "It's not worth it."

Nina kept silent and began placing each of the parts into the case, taking care to secure each in the protective foam.

"Nina!"

"And sleeping with one of...of _them_ is worth it?" the blonde finally replied as she continued to steadily put her weapon away. She refused to look up at her sister, yet continued, "I can't believe you, Anya. You disgrace our family by associating with murderers--"

"--Lee and Kazuya are not bad people!" Anna stood up, and she tightened her hands into fists. "Maybe Heihachi was a murderer, but Papa wasn't any better--" She stopped when Nina looked up at last. The blonde's eyes were filled with a calm rage, and she was silent. Slowly, she stood up from her seat.

"You take that back," Nina hissed as she leaned over the table.

Anna leaned over as well and narrowed her eyes, "I will not. And if you think they had _anything_ to do with Emil's death, you're wrong."

"Then tell me, Anna," Nina's voice came out dangerously quiet, "Why did he die? Why did Takahashi die?" The younger girl flinched as Nina continued to hiss at her, "I'll tell you why. It's because of them. It's always because of them."

Anna replied, "Did it ever occur to you even once that maybe, just maybe, that something in this town has nothing to do with the Mishimas? Or better yet, that perhaps _you're_ to blame?" 

Nina slapped Anna and stomped around the table and grabbed her sister by the front of her nightgown.

"Can't see what he's doing to you?" the blonde growled, tears forming in her eyes. "He's doing the same thing Heihachi did to Mama! He's brainwashing you! Him and that little shit that left you out in the cold!--"

"--You're wrong!" Anna cried as she swung a fist up, clumsily hitting her sister in the head. The sudden jolt caused Nina to loosen her grip on her sister and Anna pulled back and freed herself, stumbling back. She grabbed her cheek; it still stung from where her sister had hit her, and a red mark was burning across it. The older girl stood, unharmed but stunned at Anna hitting back.

"I," the redhead began shakily, "went to Kazuya first. In fact, he was reluctant about even talking to me at first." She straightened up, hand still rubbing the side of her face. 

Nina rushed over to her sister, grabbed her by the shoulders, and shook her violently, "Anna, don't lie for him, not to me." 

"I've no reason to lie." Anna swatted away her sister's hands. Nina dropped her hands and blinked, her face unreadable.

Anna hugged herself and continued softly, "That night, when Mama died, that's where I was." The older girl's bottom lip began to quiver before she snarled, her tears finally falling down her cheeks. She then lunged over and tackled the younger girl, curling her hands around Anna's neck to throttle her.

"You slut! I knew it!" Nina screamed as she strangled her sister; Anna gasped and gritted her teeth before she kicked her legs out to push the older girl off of her. In one smooth motion, the younger sister managed to kick her attacker off of her and quickly stood up, gasping for air. She then dropped into stance, relaxing her shoulders and breath the best she could and waited. Nina pulled herself up and took the same stance, her eyes burning with anger at the younger woman before her.

"Daddy was right about you," Nina sneered. "You'll never amount to anything. You're useless to us."

"Us?" Anna lifted a brow, finally getting her breathing under control. "There's no one left but you and me! And if we--you keep trying to live in the past, then how can we move on?" Nina let out a laugh and came at her sister with a several short kicks, which Anna put up her arms to block, before landing a full roundhouse at the redhead. Anna, however, ducked on the last kick, and hit her sister with a right hook that sent the blonde stumbling back, though still not completely knocking her over.

The younger girl opened her fist into and closed her fingers together before sharply swiping at Nina again. However, Nina grabbed her sister's arm and twisted it, forcing Anna to her knees. The younger girl cried out in pain, but she elbowed the other woman with her free arm, loosening Nina's grip just enough for her to slip free, then she stood up and turned to run. Before Anna could get far, however, Nina tackled her once more, sending the two of them flying into kitchen table. The impact knocked everything off of it, including Richard's gun. Nina flipped her disoriented sister on her back and began strangling her again.

"Useless slut!" she growled as Anna clawed desperately at the hands squeezing her neck. "Fucking the younger one wasn't enough, was it?!" Anna's eyes began to roll back. "And you can't even respect your family enough to stay away from the other one!" The younger girl's eyelids fluttered shut, and her hands went limp and slid off of her sister's.

Only then did Nina loosen her grip, and she sat back up on her knees. The older girl calmly pressed her index and middle fingers under Anna's ear to check for a pulse, and when she felt one weakly beating, the blonde leaned over and began to hastily pick up the gun parts that were scattered around her, then crawled over the unconscious body of her sister to get the rest.

As she carefully started placing everything back in its case she said, "I'm sorry, Anya. I really am. You know I love you, right?" The only response was the sound of the clock ticking in the kitchen. 

Nina continued, "This is for the best. You'll see." She placed the last piece of the gun, the silencer, in the foam then clasped the case shut. She then stood up, straightened her jacket with her freehand, and gazed down at her sister for a moment, as if waiting for a response. Again, only the sounds of the clock in the kitchen answered her. 

Nina shook her head once out of pity and turned to leave.

  


*****

  


Anna sat up slowly and painfully to find that it was still dark. She stood up, leaning on the tabletop for support and looked up towards the kitchen at the clock; it had only been half an hour since she and Nina had fought. She staggered over to the kitchen phone, holding her dislocated right arm. She cradled the receiver between her ear and shoulder and dialed slowly with her left hand.

As the other end rang, Anna sat down on one of the barstools and waited, counting rings to herself. ...Six...seven...eight... There was a click as it picked up finally.

__

"You've reached the Mishima residence. No one's available right now, but if you leave your name, phone number. . ."

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" She screamed as she slammed the phone down, then hunched over and began sobbing.


	18. Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

Lee was curled up in Kazuya's bed, still clad in the clothes he wore the day before, and he stared over at the window as he gripped a pillow and watched the cloudy sky lighten; the sun had risen behind those clouds, casting a deceiving gentle blue glow over everything. However, the voices of Heihachi and Kazuya arguing had kept the boy awake all night, though muffled by the closed door.

Suddenly, the quarrelling was silent. Lee strained his ears and listened for what felt like an eternity before sitting up slowly and looked over his shoulder at the door as he still clung to his, or rather, Kazuya's pillow. Again, it was several minutes before he shifted, set the pillow down, and stood up. He crept over to the door and opened it to peek out.

It was still dark down stairs, and Lee slipped out of the room and cautiously proceeded down the hall, until he heard, "I'm going to fucking kill you." He paused, shocked, and the boy sat down a few steps short of the top of the stairs, giving him a very limited view of the family room below.

Of course, Kazuya had been the one to make the threat. It was already uncharacteristic of him to say something of that nature, but it was how he said it. It was a calm, very matter-of-factly manner that sounded more like Kazuya than the embittered man Lee heard yelling throughout the night, then there was the bothersome silence that followed. Lee held his breath when he heard footsteps coming towards the stairwell, and soon the older Mishima brother came into view and trotted up the stairs. He stopped halfway, however, when he noticed Lee seated on the floor staring wide eyed at him.

"What?" Kazuya asked as he started back up the stairs; his face was, like his voice, calm despite all the yelling he had done all night.

"Nothing," the younger brother replied softly, his eyes still fixated on the older man as he finished going up the stairs and pushed past Lee. Lee cranked his head around, "Kazuya?"

The dark-haired man turned back, "Now what?"

"Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine." Kazuya began walking to his room. "Go back to sleep."

The bedroom door opened and shut.

Lee stood up slowly and went down the stairs.

  


*****

  


The bright morning sunlight was hidden behind blank clouds and softened. Heihachi had went into the dojo and waited. He was sitting cross-legged and watched the back of the house, upset. The world beyond the glass walls would lighten and darken as clouds pass over the sun, then finally dulled as the sky was covered completely in a sheet of grey once again. 

He rubbed his temples and sniffed once; he was finally starting to feel tired after not sleeping over the past two days, and he did his best to keep from nodding off.

"I'm going to fucking kill you," Kazuya had to him for the first time in ten years. That had ended the arguing that morning, and the older man became silent at the threat. It wasn't what he said, or even how he had said it, but Kazuya's eyes.

Bright, glowing red irises, like they had been the day Heihachi had left Kazuya for dead. But the younger man had stopped himself after he said that, and he realized that it was happening again when the color drained from his father's face. Kazuya left and quietly went upstairs.

Heihachi found that he was worried about Lee of all people now, and the older Mishima stood up slowly and popped his back painfully and turned around towards the door. However, he quickly spun around as he heard a shot ring and echo outside, he stared out at the garden, alarmed.

The front door was open. That was the first thing that Heihachi noticed when he came back into the house, and he cautiously made his way towards the cloud filtered sunlight that poured into the living room and the sounds of song birds. 

Kazuya was standing in the living room, and he stared at the opened door, his back towards Heihachi. 

"Where's Chaolan?" Heihachi asked softly.

"I...I don't know," Kazuya turned around slowly. Heihachi shook his head and looked away when he saw his son's face.

His eyes were glowing again, however this time, a third eye was opened sideways in the middle of the young man's forehead, also glowing. Kazuya's blank expression, however, indicated that he wasn't aware of the transformation he was going through.

"Kazuya...maybe you should get some sleep." 

"No, I'm fine..." His voice sounded feverish.

"Trust me, you need your rest. I'll go look for your brother." Kazuya nodded once stiffly, then turned fully around to head back upstairs. Before he left the room however, he stopped in front of his father, gently grabbed the older man's hand, and pulled it open. The Mishima boy dropped something in Heihachi's open palm, then numbly made his way up the stairs.

Heihachi stared down at the item in his hand: a single bullet.

  


*****

  


Lee could see the city limits finally as he walked down the middle of the highway, barefoot. Occasionally, a car would speed past him and honk. He, however, ignored most of the warnings he was given, as he tried to walk as far away from that manor as he could.

He guessed that it was probably past noon now; the sky had went from grey to a nearly blinding white, and it was humid again. The silver haired boy was sweating a bit, but he wasn't particularly bothered by the weather as he walked closer to town. 

__

Just another half mile or so... He stopped when he noticed another figure running towards him.

It was Anna, still clad in her nightgown, and like Lee, she was barefoot. She stopped to lean over and catch her breath, then started running again. As she ran, her right arm was folded against her stomach, and her face brightened up as she recognized Lee and pushed harder towards him.

When she reached him, she fell into his arms, crying, "Oh God! You're okay! You're okay!" and she clung to him and wept into his chest. He was silent and let her cry, completely confused about what was going on. She pulled way and looked up at him, "Is your brother alright?"

"Yeah, he's fine..." Lee frowned down at her and brought a hand up to her cheek; there were bruises on her face and around her neck, "You look terrible."

"As if you look any better," she smiled wearily at the boy, noting his busted lip and the bruise he had on his face that was similar to hers. He chuckled once and pulled completely away to wrap an arm around the girl, and she leaned onto him. The two turned towards the city limits and slowly walked back.

  


*****

  


"I'm glad I ran into you this morning," said Jun as she poured Nina another cup of tea. "I know, things are just getting worse for you lately. I'm sorry."

They were sitting in Jun's dining room at the small dinette set she had. Nina stared down at her cup, frowning to herself. 

Her gun case sat next to her feet.

"...Don't be." Nina nodded once as to thank Jun. "Everything in life happens for a reason," the blonde added softly. From next door, the two women could hear laughter, and someone strummed a guitar clumsily. Jun and Nina were silent for a moment and listened before starting up conversation again.

"I guess," Jun smiled a bit. "That almost sounds like something Wulong would say."

"Wulong?"

"Don't worry about it." Jun's smile softened as she thought about Lei briefly. Nina lifted a brow then let out a soft chuckle at her friend. She glanced over at the clock then back at the blonde. "By the way, where were you coming from early?"

Nina took a sip of her tea, "I, um, needed to leave the house. Just for a little while."

"Had to get your mind off things, huh?"

"Yes..." Nina nodded weakly. "I feel terrible that Anna has to put up with me this way."

"I'm sure she understands." 

The sounds of the guitar next door faded out as more people began laughing and talking over the soothing, yet muffled, music. Nina managed to crack a small smile, remembering the nights when she, Jun, Liz, and Paul used to sit around in the biker's apartment, and he'd play his guitar for them. The three girls would still be in their sweats and leotards from skipping dance or not going home when they were supposed to afterwards.

Jun always sang along softly. She had a beautiful voice, though Liz often teased her about her singing. Paul always encouraged Jun though. He would smile and say, "It makes my shitty guitar playing sound great." Nina would just laugh and layout on the floor. Secretly, though, she had always been a bit jealous of how close Jun and Paul were, but it was nights like those she could put it aside and listen.

"You never know when it's all going to end," Nina replied finally, setting down her cup.

"That's true," Jun smiled. "I remember you saying that once before. I think it was..." Her forehead wrinkled up as she tried to remember.

"The summer before you and Liz left. Before..." Nina sighed heavily, "you stopped talking to Paul."

"It was, wasn't it?" Jun frowned and poured herself another cup. "It just seems like it was so long ago."

Nina didn't answer but continued to stare down at her cup and listened.

The laughter and music had ended.

  


*****

  


It had been ten years since he had been out there. Heihachi stood near the edge of the cliff and stared out at the wasteland before him. The feeling of fear he had then as coming back, and lump formed in the back of his throat.

Kazue had been dying, holding on to what little strength she could then. She acted strong for the children, though, especially for Lee. She knew that losing another mother would be hard on the little boy. Kazuya, however, the ailing woman suspected always knew about her illness, even as a small child. He had a good sense about when people were suffering and always blamed his father for the misery surrounding him.

It had been a last resort, Heihachi knew, to get him to stay by her side. His staying at the office later and later as the days passed had been an obvious sign of adultery; other woman was a redhead that had been widowed three years previous that worked at Mishima in place of her late husband. 

"You didn't have to die!" he shouted at barren world before him. His voice echoed, and the man listened, as if the dead woman would reply.

"You got what you wanted in the end, didn't you?" he added in a harsh whisper. "I'm miserable, the boys are miserable, and I have to deal with that...that demon you brought into the world!" Heihachi laughed a bit at himself. 

He always knew this would come. The evening he came home after he and Kazuya and went away to the hills, Heihachi was met by his wife, who was barely able to walk then, at the front door, and she led him to their eldest son's bedroom to show him the wounded boy. She didn't speak to Heihachi the entire night; Kazuya had told her nothing, yet she knew.

He looked up as he felt a raindrop on his forehead, and soon he was being pelted with rain. He closed his eyes and let the water beat down on him. It wasn't long before sky faded from white into a bright rose, indicating that it was nearly sunset. He opened his eyes and looked out again.

The world looked beautiful, the way it was intended. The warm gentle pink glow that was over everything and the soothing sounds of water drumming over the rocks below and on the grass. The image of it all burned itself into him, into the back of his mind, and his memories. He could see Kazue's gentle smile infused in it all. 

Maybe she _had_ loved him.

Heihachi turned around to see Kazuya standing and staring at him. He looked normal again, however, he glared coldly at the older man, his hands resting at his sides in loose fits.

"You said you were going to kill me," Heihachi chuckled.

"I will." Kazuya's face stayed the same as his father took stance. "You won't hurt anyone else in this world."

"You don't get it, do you?" the older man laughed; Kazuya slipped into the same stance. "You're a monster, Kazuya. A _monster_. You'll hurt far more people than I ever will."

"Shut up."

"Your mother knew damned well what you were going to be long before you were born--"

"--Shut up!--"

"--She knew that bringing you into the world was wrong. She knew you weren't human--"  
"--SHUT UP!" Kazuya slammed his fist into his father's jaw that sent him stumbling back; the heel of the older man's foot hung off the edge of the cliff, though he solidly went back in the stance before charging at the boy with quick upper cut that grounded Kazuya. The younger man promptly kepped back to his feet then hit Heihachi with a scissor kick that him in the shoulder and brought the older man to his knees.

Heihachi winced in pain, but in his state managed to sweep Kazuya's feet out from under him. But before the younger man could touch the ground, Heihachi grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder, flinging the boy over the cliff. 

Kazuya grabbed the edge and clung desperately for his life.

"Well, now," Heihachi said as he walked up to the edge. He stopped and peered over at his son, who struggled to hold on to the rocky edge; the boy's fingers were slipping. "You're were saying something about killing me?" The older man lifted a foot and dug down into Kazuya's injured right hand; his knuckles started bleeding again, and he screamed out in pain. His fingers flailed out as he tried to free it from underneath the sharp heel of his father's shoe.

"You're no stronger than you were then!" The elder Mishima's foot lifted up again and again, as he bashed down repeatedly on the bloody hand. "Maybe this time, you'll stay down!" One final kick and the hand flew backwards, violent swinging Kazuya's body to the left as he hung on with on hand now. The sky darkened as the sun set, turning the clouds nearly black, and the rain began to beat down harder, making it much more difficult for younger Mishima to hold on. 

Heihachi stepped casually over to the hand that was keeping the boy from falling and slowly lifted his foot. 

He smiled down fondly at his son, "This is for the best," and smashed down on Kazuya's knuckles. 

Kazuya gritted his teeth, and with all his strength, swung his right hand up and grabbed Heihachi's ankle. He yanked hard, pulling the older man off balance and sent him falling forward, and Heihachi out a sharp yell as Kazuya held him up by the leg then released his grip and swung to safety as the older man fell down on to the rocks below. 

Kazuya didn't look down as he pulled up his right hand near his left. He dragged himself to up to the top of the cliff and collapsed from exhaustion. It was a few minutes before he stood and numbly walked away.

  


*****

  


It was well past midnight when Kazuya came home, soaking wet, and he found Lee, smoking in the breakfast room as usual. The boy was shirtless and wearing his pajama bottoms, and sat looking at Heihachi's books with a perplexed look on his face. He looked up at his brother then glanced down at the older boy's bloodied fists before he went back to his reading.

"You know, I don't get how you and Dad can do this every night. It's so fucking boring," Lee commented, not looking up as he took the cigarette from his mouth, and smoke escaped from his nostrils. 

"Yeah, it is..." A grin came across the younger man's face as he flipped a page in the large leather binder.

"By the way, Anna says call her. She's worried."

"Thanks," Kazuya replied flatly.

"No prob."

"You came back." Kazuya pulled out a chair and sat down slowly. "Why?"

The younger boy finally looked up, still smiling, and he let out a chuckle. "A few reasons. Met this cute girl a few days ago, only have a semester left..." His voice trailed as he leaned back in his seat and took a long drag from his cig. Kazuya sat rigidly, his hands resting on the table.

Lee's smile softened, "...You."


	19. Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

"I'll get it!" announced Michelle as the doorbell rang in the middle of dinner, and her grandparents both chuckled at the girl as she jetted over to the door. 

Gabby called to her sister, "I bet it's your _man_!"

"What_ever_!" the older Chang sister yelled back over her shoulder before recomposing herself and opening the door. Her smile widened and her eyes brightened when she saw who it was.

"Hey, you!" she grinned at Lee, who was also smiling at the girl. The bruise on his face had nearly completely faded away. He was dressed in a oversized white sweatshirt and light blue jeans. And despite that he was out enjoying the evening, he wasn't wearing a hat over his silver hair. In his hand, he held Michelle's raincoat.

"You forgot something," he chuckled as he handed her the coat. She chuckled, having forgotten about her discarded coat quite some time ago. 

"Wait, I have something for you." Lee nodded at the girl, and she turned and hurried back into the house. Helen lifted a brow as she noticed her daughter dash down the hall to her room, then dash back out to the front door. 

When she reached the door, she held up her hand, the pendant dangling between her thumb and forefinger.

"That's my mother's..." Lee gasped.

"I know, and I'm sorry. My dad, he took it a long time ago." With her free hand, Michelle opened up Lee's palm, "I thought you should have it back."

He chuckled a bit as the girl dropped the necklace in his hand.

"Hey, don't worry about it," he laughed. "In fact..." He held up the pendant and undid the clasp. The older boy then leaned over and fastened the necklace around the girl's neck. Michelle blinked at the boy when he pulled back. His response was another smile. She then nodded him to thank him, then looked back at her family, who was all still dining and conversing loudly and laughing. 

"Hey..." Michelle started, "You wanna come in for dinner?"

"I couldn't..."

Michelle lifted a brow, "Come on. My mom's the best cook in Dreyfus." She grinned again when she noticed that Lee was cracking another smile, and she grabbed his hands.

"Alright," he said in a mock sigh as the younger girl pulled him inside, "You talked me into it."

Gabby let out a little squeal when Michelle and Lee entered the dining room together, delighted that she was right.

  


*****

  


"Ready?"

"Yeah."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Wulong, I'm sure." Jun looked around one last time at her apartment. Her suitcases were at her feet, and she sighed as she picked them up again and joined Lei at the door. He chuckled a bit as he took a couple of the heavier bags for her and led the way out. Jun shut the door behind her, the best she could with luggage in both hands. 

As she walked away, she looked back at the door and frowned.

Heihachi Mishima had disappeared two weeks ago, and she and Lei had been called back to New York. Bryan had told them a few nights ago that the FBI wasn't going to pursue the case at all, leaving it in the hands of the Dreyfus PD.

"Most likely, one of his enemies finally finished him off," the fed shrugged.

She still had a terrible feeling about the whole ordeal, much like she did before she had came back to Dreyfus, and she and Lei made their way slowly to the elevator, then got on after waiting a bit for it. They were both silent as it descended to the lobby, and neither made eye contact on and off the elevator. Jun made her way hastily to the front desk and left the key there with her super as Lei waited by the front door.

As Jun walked away, the woman at the desk called to her, "I'm glad you're finally moving in with your boyfriend. You two are so adorable."

Lei began cackling at that comment. Jun, however, cringed and glared at her partner for his response. He just smiled and held the door opened for her.

The morning traffic was heavy, and Lei inched the best he could in the mass of cars that congested the streets.

As he drove, Lei chuckled, "I'm kinda sad it's over."

"Why?" Jun sighed, rolling her eyes as she slumped back in her seat.

"A couple of reasons." He glanced over at Jun and smiled sadly at her. The car stopped at a red light. He looked back at the road and waited for the light to change; there was a long line of cars ahead of them and on either side of the little rental car. Jun straightened up after Lei said that, and frowned at him.

"Hey, Wulong," she said.

Lei turned his head, "Hm?" He was met with a kiss. When Jun pulled back, Lei had a confused look on his face.

Jun smirked and turned back in her seat, "Light's green."

Lei lifted a brow and turned back, "Um, thanks."

  


*****

  


The bedroom was completely emptied now; all the medical equipment had been thrown out without a second thought, and the sheets and pillows that had been on the bed, washed and put away with all the other linens. Paul turned off the vacuum, though his whistling was still going. He had a red bandana over his head, and aside from that, he was wearing nothing more than a pair of blue jeans. He glanced over at Anna, who was cleaning windows the best she could with her left arm; her right was in a sling. Like Paul, she wore a pair of jeans, and she had a white tank top on.

"It's nice having you around again," she said when Paul finally stopped whistling. He smiled and shrugged, then proceeded to wrap the vacuum's cord back in place.

"Eh," he started, "it's nice to be wanted again." He looked up and grinned at the girl. "How's the arm feeling?"

"Much better, thank you." The two turned their heads as the door opened and revealed Nina. The cut on her forehead was nearly healed now, and she was clad in black t-shirt and a pair of black capris. She held a stack of linens that she was bringing to put in the closet.

She was frowning, "Anna, Kazuya's on the phone."

"Oh! Okay," the younger girl set her spray bottle and rag on the naked bed and trotted out of the room. Nina's eyes icily followed the girl as she went by her, and when Anna had went back into her room, the blonde rolled her eyes at Paul, who clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shrugged.

"You can't worry about her, Nina," he warned. "She's a woman now. Has been for awhile."

"I know," she replied as she opened the closet and nearly threw the sheets in there. "It's just--" she slammed the doors shut, "--Fucking Mishima."

"I know," Paul answered as he cringed. "It bothers me just as much. But, what can you do?"

Down the hall, Anna sat on her bed, phone to her ear as she talked.

". . .No, I understand. Your father hasn't turned up, you have to keep everything running, just don't overdo it while you're in Chicago." She pulled her legs up onto the bed and crossed them, as to make herself more comfortable. "So, I guess then, if I don't see you...Goodbye."

"This isn't really a goodbye," he laughed. "Anna, I..."

"Um hm?" she asked as she pulled opened the top drawer to her nightstand. She stared down at the dagger that laid by itself in there, another one of Richard's weapons. It still had blood on it from the last time it had been used, just a short few weeks ago. She closed the drawer, and glanced over at the door as she waited for Kazuya to continue.

"Come with me."

She chuckled a bit, "You'll have to justify me leaving, love."

"Protection," he said.

"Deal."


	20. Epilogue

Epilogue

Anna stormed into the bedroom, her eyes red from crying but her face angry. Kazuya followed her as she wordlessly went to the closet and pulled out luggage and began stuffing clothing in it. They had been fighting all night; she had spent most of the time in tears while he tried to assure that everything was fine, that she had nothing to worry about. However, he ended up raising his voice eventually when she constantly refused to believe him, yet the more he listened to himself, the more Kazuya began to wonder himself if he actually meant anything he said to her.

It had all started with a question the previous night: 

"Do you love me?" she had asked as they lay together in bed. His response was silence, and he sat up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed, and leaned over, refusing to look at the confused woman he was sharing a bed with. 

She sat up as well, "Did I say something wrong?"

"No." He stood up, walked numbly into the bathroom in their bedroom, and then shut the door behind him. Anna gathered up the blankets on the bed to cover her nude body and waited, her head turned toward where Kazuya had exited.

He stared at himself in the mirror, and as he expected, his eyes turned a fiery red. This had become a normal occurrence now, the unearthly eyes that stared back at him. As he stared at himself, fascinated, Kazuya's mind began to wander. Whether or not Anna knew about what he referred to as his "other self" in his head, he couldn't tell. He wanted to desperately believe she didn't, and that was why she asked about his feelings for her. Of course now, it had gotten worse over the years. 

Along with the small transformations, he was hearing voices. At first, he dismissed them as his conscience, regret for what he had done to his father. These days, however, there was only one voice. One strong voice that questioned everything he did. One voice that constantly told him that killing Heihachi was the only way he could have survived, one strong voice that he recognized as his own. As he stared at himself, the middle of his forehead split open to reveal his third eye, blinking lazily as it lay sideways on his face. It glittered like a ruby crown in the washed out fluorescent lighting in the room.

__

You don't love her.

"No, I do," he laughed to himself. "Why else would we still be together?"

__

Protection. To keep her close. 

"That's not it."

__

Protection, you said so yourself. She's no different from her sister. She wouldn't hesitate to kill you.

"No, I..."

"Kazuya?" Anna called as she knocked on the bathroom door; she was wearing a robe now, and she pressed her ear against the door as she spoke. "Are you alright, love?"

"I'm fine," he yelled back keeping his gaze on the mirror. The third eye blinked again and began to glow softly like his other eyes. Anna chuckled softly to herself as she felt tears forming in her eyes. Kazuya was a terrible liar, she had learned.

She turned around and faced the bed, leaning against the door, "There's something I need to tell you."

"Can it wait?"

"Can it wait, he says," she laughed weakly; she then slid down slowly and hugged her knees, still looking forward. "I need you to tell me you love me first." There was no answer from behind the bathroom door, and the younger girl sighed heavily, still smiling as she finally started crying. "But I guess...that can wait too."

Now, of course, he regretted having ever said anything as he watched her throw clothes into the large suitcase she had pulled from the closet.

He spoke finally, "Where are you going?" Anna didn't answer but continued to pack angrily. "Where the _fuck_ do you think you're going?" Anna lifted her head, looked over at her lover, and then rolled her eyes. She let out a harsh chuckle before turning back to her packing.

"Anna, listen to me" the older man started sternly as he continued watch her to shove clothes into the suitcase, "I'm not a mind reader. Talk to me!"

"Don't turn this around on me," she hissed as she finished stuffing clothes in her suitcase and pressed the overstuffed bag shut. She then turned around and went to the closet to pull out another bag to start packing. "You know damned well what this is about."

"Okay, so where will you go, huh? Nina doesn't talk to you, and Lee sure in the hell doesn't want you." He huffed angrily and waited for Anna to reply, which she didn't and kept packing hastily. The older man crossed his arms and continued to watch. "Fuck, even if he did, he's so out of it, Anna."

"Fuck you."

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know." Kazuya's frown melted into confusion at that response. Anna's head was still down as she shoved more clothes into her second bag, "I'll think of something."

Kazuya lifted a brow and uncrossed his arms, "You're pregnant, aren't you?" The young woman didn't answer but closed her suitcase and grabbed her coat that hung on the back of the closet door. "Anna?"

"Goodbye, Kazuya."

"Anna!" he yelled as he followed her again, this time out of bedroom and through the apartment they had been sharing for almost two years now. The pad was spacious, of course, and was brightly lit by the large panel windows. Anna paused for a moment at one of the windows that looked out over the drab cityscape below them. The curtains were drawn open and showed the calm of that Sunday; few cars and pedestrians were out that morning shopping and other activities of the likes. She then blinked when she heard Kazuya call her name again, and strolled quickly to the door. She turned around.

"Here," she said as she tossed him her keys. "Sorry to had been an inconvenience."

He caught them with one hand, "Anna...answer my question." She chuckled a bit at the request and turned back around. The younger woman then grasped hold of the doorknob.

"It doesn't matter if I am or not. You're never going to see me again."

"Answer the question."

"Yes, I am." With that she left, slamming the door behind her.

*****

  


"I miss you," was all Lee could say as he sat in the corner of his bedroom of his apartment over the phone. The place itself was a dreary, poorly lit by his choice, and rather barren. Laid out on his bed was a fine tailored suit, something he was supposed to be wearing into work that morning. However, he hadn't gone in at all. He was still dressed in his pajama bottoms and was shirtless. His eyes had dark rings under them.

  


Michelle sighed into the phone, "I wanted to make sure that you were okay. That last email you sent me frightened me... Lee, are you sure that it's just that?"

"Yeah." He pulled a leg up to his chest and hugged it with his free arm and stared over at the clothes on the bed. The silver haired man stood up slowly, back still pressed against the wall. "Thank you."

"I haven't done anything. You won't let me do anything for you."

"I'm so glad you called. I needed to hear your voice." A weak grin crept across his face as he waited for a response. It was silent, though. For some reason, that was comforting.

"You're scaring me," the younger girl replied softly; her voice cracked, revealing that she was crying. Lee pulled away from the wall and sat down on his bed. Next to the bed stood his nightstand. Usually, his phone sat there, but he had been holding it as he talked. It sat on his lap now. The digital clock that sat there flashed 12:00 in bright red numbers; the power had went out several days ago, and the silver haired man hadn't bother to reset his clock. A wristwatch sat next to the clock with the correct time. 

"Lee?" Michelle asked desperately. 

His smile grew, "I love you." Again, she didn't respond, however he could hear her crying over the line. "Goodbye, Michelle."

"Please, god, don't hang up--" 

He hung up. 

His hand stayed grasped tightly around the receiver for several minutes, and he stared down at his hand. The knuckles began to turn white as his grip tightened until he slowly released his fingers. He then carefully set the phone back on the bed and stood up. Painfully, he shuffled over to his bathroom. The light was already on, sickly yellow light that spilt out into the apartment when the Mishima pulled open the door. He then stepped into the room and shut the door behind him.

On the sink counter sat several small, dirty vials. He picked up one, then tossed it aside when he saw that it was empty, then pick up another; it was empty as well. Lee growled and threw it over his shoulder and began picking up the tiny bottles one by one. And with each empty one he found, he became more and more frustrated before he turned and angrily pitched the last one against the door. It shattered.

Defeated, he plopped down on the ground and curled up in a ball, weeping to himself. And soon, his stomach began cramp up, causing him to curl up tighter. Now, he was shaking and was freezing, despite how much he was sweating now. All he could hear was the ringing in his ears and his father's voice.

__

"Fight back."

*****

  


Her hotel was a ways out, but Jun sat in a cafe by herself that evening, drinking coffee. She had been visiting Chicago for the week, investigating some kind of supposed drug trafficking operation. So, far, nothing had turned up.

  


Lei had stayed in New York. He hardly spoke to her ever since she requested a new partner. Chancey had pleaded with Jun to at least work with Lei for this case. 

She had smiled and replied, "It's better we didn't." 

She hadn't really wanted to do that, but it was for the best. At least, she believed it was. She dimly knew that she was doing the same exact thing to Lei that she had done to Paul, and she hated herself for it.

Whether or not she was in love, Jun wasn't sure. It was true that she had feelings for him, but love? Love was something that was supposed to make a girl feel beautiful, that something unexpectedly wonderful that Lei always talked about. It wasn't supposed to hurt. Not like that. She wasn't supposed to be afraid like she was. However, she knew that missed him. She missed his lopsided grins and his terrible jokes. She missed his laugh and the quirky way he dressed. Most of all, she missed him holding her.

So, it was true. That first kiss had ruined everything. It had felt right, though. That uncertainty she had had most of her life just seemed to disappear for a moment whenever she was around him, whether it be just sitting and talking or making love. It was just that she didn't realize it until the moments that he was gone. And now, Jun was certain that whatever it was that she and Lei shared was gone forever because of her. 

The door of the cafe opened with a bright jingle of the bells. Jun looked up and swallowed hard when she saw who had entered, Kazuya Mishima. For a moment, he scanned the placed for an empty seat then he noticed Jun sitting alone, and their eyes locked.

He made his way to her and sat down.

"I promise, I won't stay long," he said quietly. "It's just...you know, it's weird when you see someone you know in a place this big..."

"I know," she forced a smile. "How've you been?"

"Terrible." He grinned slightly, his smile also forced. "You?"

The woman chuckled a bit, "I can't say that I've been too great either." Kazuya's smile softened a bit into something more sincere. "Are you still seeing Anna?"

"No." 

His face became distant for a moment after the mention of Anna's name until Jun said, "I really should be going." She stood up and gave a pained smile to the man sitting before her. "It's late, I have to catch a cab back to my hotel--"

"--I could give you a ride." Kazuya looked up. "I know we hardly talk to each other and all, but it's the least I can do." He stood up and shrugged, "And it's not like I have anything better to do."

"I...I guess." He smiled fondly at her then led her out of the cafe.

The car trip was silent, and the two refused to look at each other. In the awkward silence, Kazuya could hear the voice in his head again.

__

This one, she's afraid of you. She knows.

Soon, the large hotel came into view. He drove past it however. Jun lifted her head when she saw the building whiz by them, and she straightened up in her seat.

"What are you doing?!" she cried. He didn't answer, and he found that as he was losing control of his limbs. It felt like someone else was controlling his body, like he was watching a dream. He wanted to stop and turn around to take her home, or even just pull over. Yet no matter how much he screamed at himself, his body wouldn't obey. 

The rest of the night was a blur.

*****

  


She wasn't sure what time it was then, but the lobby was empty, aside from the security guard that sat at the front desk, half asleep. In her hands, she held her sandals, which she had taken off during the walk back. She grasped the front of her shirt closed as she walked past the guard, who never looked up as she limped past him.

  


When she finally made it to her room, the first thing she did was throw her shoes in the wastebasket. The strap on one of them had been broken during her trek back, which had caused her to trip when she was running. She had scrapped her knee, and it was still bleeding a bit. She then pulled off her shirt and looked at it in apathy.

The front had been ripped, something easily repairable. However, she chucked it into the wastebasket with the shoes and headed straight to the bathroom, still limping. As she stumbled over there, she shed was left of her clothing until she was nude and had reached the small washroom. Numbly, she turned on the light then reached into the shower stall to turn on the water.

The water was scalding hot, painful to touch for even a small moment. However, she stepped into the shower, and grabbed the soap. She then began scrubbing her body violently, finally letting herself cry and feel emotion.

Soon, the water turned cold, and she flung down the much smaller bar of soap. Her usually pale skin was bright red from the hot water and the vigorous rubbing. She looked down at her hands; there were bruises around her wrists. Her bottom lip quivered at the sight of it, and she pressed her back against the tile wall of the shower and slid down it. Where she sat, the water swirling around the shower floor slowly began turn a brownish-red as it drained. She brought her knees up to her chest, hugged them, and let the now freezing cold water beat down on her as she rocked back and forth and cried.

*****

  


The bathroom door opened, and Lee looked up. He had been hunched over the toilet in his bathroom; his hands were still shaking violently. However, the body aches had subsided a bit. He sighed heavily when he saw who had entered and leaned back against the wall opposite of the toilet.

  


"You haven't been in for a couple of days," said Kazuya as he kneeled down to better eye his brother; the older man was clad in a black suit and a trench coat. Over his hands, he wore black leather gloves. He smiled at his brother. Lee struggled to sit up a bit. "Sorry, I know you like your privacy, but I got worried." The younger man narrowed his eyes and hugged his stomach. 

The smile on Kazuya's face was chilling. It was sadistic yet held the same friendliness that Lee was accustomed to. He saw Heihachi in that smile, not his older brother.

Lee pulled his legs up to his chest, "I'm not feeling well."

"Obviously." Kazuya's grin grew, and he sat down against the wall next to his younger brother. He looked forward at the toilet then glanced over at Lee, still grinning.

"What are you so fucking giddy about?" the younger man mumbled.

"I think I'm finally okay."

Lee rolled his eyes and stood up, still grasping his stomach. He propped himself against the wall and stumbled over to the door, taking care to step over his brother's legs. He stopped at the door, however, and doubled over. Moving had made the pain come back.

"Where are you going?" Kazuya asked quietly. The smile on his face was still there.

"I need a cigarette."

"You need a fucking hit. Or better yet, a doctor." The dark-haired man stood up and strolled casually over to his brother. He wrapped an arm around the younger boy and led him out of the room to sit him on the bed. "You know, I think that would a good idea," Kazuya mused as pulled away to let Lee curl up on the bed. The older man then walked over to the bedroom door; there was a black leather coat hanging on the back of it, and he dug into the pockets until he found Lee's lighter and cigarette. There was also a half empty vial of coke in one of the pockets. Kazuya grabbed that as well. "Maybe you taking a few months off to go into rehab." He walked back and sat on the bed before setting the items in front of Lee. After that, the older man then reached into his own coat and pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a similar lighter and then lit up

"Kaz?" 

"Yes?" Lee sat up and gingerly picked up the glass vial and stared down at it. He then looked back up at his brother.

"You think that Dad's alive out there somewhere?"

Kazuya's face darkened, "It's been two years, and have you heard anything?"

Lee laid back down on the bed and closed his eyes, "You never know." 

__

END

=========================

__

~First, I wanna thank DF and Jaden for being the ones that got inflicted with the unproofread versions of this story. You two are angels, and don't you forget it. I also wanna thank everyone that actually sat down and read this, even if you didn't review it nor even got past the first chapter, thank you.

I hope you all enjoyed my little warped version of Tekken. I had so many ups and downs writing this, but it was fun in the end. It gave me something to be excited about again. Hopefully, it did the same with you.

--Lea (aka, lilykane), May 15, 2002 

("Canto"_ version 3.0 revised on October 16, 2002)~_


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